Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I rolled over this morning and my first thought was, “this is my last real day in Granada.” So obviously even though I didn’t have to madrugar this morning I was wide awake at 9:00. We had breakfast then I hung around typing up journal entries until lunch. I finally finished though so I’m caught up all the way until today – finally! I can’t believe that it took me this long .. I just got a text from Jeff that said, “getting on the plane :( what are you guys doing today?” and I couldn’t respond – heartbreaking. Ughhh I’m so depressed!
Before lunch I finally got dressed for the day and gave Mom a call. She was so happy to talk to me :) Too bad Dad wasn’t home, but it was good to hear from her. We used up the rest of her phone card but I’m keeping a few minutes on mine just in case. I keep saying this but I go up and down with excitement and misery and this was definitely excitement about coming home! I can’t wait to see everyone and I know they’ll all be really good about helping me adjust since they’ve all been abroad and Laura knows exactly what I’ll be going through. Ahhh I can’t wait!
We had our last special lunch with Juli Juli today – lomito with garlic, star soup with chicken, and strawberries… yum!! It was SOOO good. After lunch I got my stuff together and went to the CLM to post my blogs and check my email one last time. It’s a scorcher out today – I am absolutely sweating in a polo and capris, disgusting!
This will be my last entry until I’m home so until then, hasta luego! :) 16 ½ hour, 5000 mile trip here I come!
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So I’d like to start by laughing at the fact that I really thought my journey would only be 16 ½ hours.. come on, we all knew it would be much much more. (that’s even including the time change which took 7 hours off my total so it was technically almost 24 to begin with)
After I finished my last post I did a little more shopping. I went to the shops by the Alhambra and the Alcaicería and got a few souvenirs for friends/family and just a couple for myself :) I went by one of my favorite heladerías and ran into a bunch of girls from my program just out and enjoying their last afternoons in Granada. I got to say goodbye to a couple of them but the rest I’ll see again.
After that I went to the theatre to meet Taylor for our movie date. Turns out that on Wednesdays movies are only €3 so we opted for the matinee. We’d never heard of the movie we went to, Nunca es tarde para enamorarse, but it was pretty good. It’s an American movie and I think it’s called Last Chance Harvey in English. Either way there weren’t any subtitles but It was pretty slow and there wasn’t anything super exciting but that was good because we could understand it better.
We came back and I finished up some packing (I had to stuff what I just bought into my bags .. a little trickier than I predicted it to be) I had my one big rolling suitcase and the small duffle that fits on top of it and they were both bulging. I fit all of my papers, glass, and heavy stuff into the small bag and it was unbelievably full – it wouldn’t even sit on top of my other bag, it kept tipping it over.
We had dinner – sanguis (grilled cheese with ham), cold tortilla, salad, and bread then got ready/showered and met up with Mitchelly. On our way to the Centro (for the last time…!) we discussed where we should go or what we should do because we weren’t super hungry, we didn’t have much money left, and our phones were pretty useless. Finally Mitch said he had an idea but wouldn’t tell us because it was a surprise so we followed him to Navas 14, the first tapas place we went to – how cute! As we sat enjoying our last tapa we talked about all of the good times we’ve had and what we were about to face in the next two days. Bittersweet, I’d say. I wanted a picture (like usual) so I made Taylor ask the guy at the table behind us because I heard them talking English. Anyway, she finally asked and this loud, boisterous guy turns around and after snapping one for us he started asking us where we were from. Turns out he’s from Ottumwa (so is Mitch) and just got a job there as a Spanish teacher but he’s here to improve his skills and is staying in the same house as Ashley was in all semester – how crazy! I was really surprised at his ridiculous southern accent…
After Navas 14 we went to the “blue place” aka our favorite tapas bar that’s owned by some Brits. We finally got the best little room with the silk pillows and comfy couches! We’ve been waiting all semester for that.. (well, since we discovered the place actually). The walk home was so sad, I can’t even describe it. We were all pretty quiet and were probably thinking the same things. When we got home I finished some more packing then set my bags in the entryway so I didn’t wake up the neighbors before dawn. Taylor and I sat in her bed watching her video – WOW. I think I was laughing and crying at the same time, it’s tough to explain the smilefrown but I know a few people who understand it pretty well. I finally crawled under my own covers and we were just giggling and talking when Juli came in to shhh us and turn off the lights like we were little campers. Ohhh Julia, how I will miss you :(
5-19-09
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
I had breakfast at 8:00, 15 minutes later than usual and Julia had a good laugh about that when I told her I would be leaving later. She was expecting to sleep in at least another half hour but unfortunately she still had to madrugar. Anyway, I bought tickets for the Alhambra the day before so I had a nice morning hike up there. It’s actually cooler and cloudy today but I was sweating by the time I got to the top! I only had tickets to the gardens which was only €7. I’ve heard the flowers are just gorgeous and the Generalife looks like a totally different place – and it was true! I can really tell why artists love Granada and where they get their material. It was just so peaceful with the water rushing around, the HUGE roses, the birds chirping, and the quiet of the morning (well, as quiet as Granada gets I suppose). Some man asked me to take a picture of him and I pretended like I only spoke Spanish .. and I think he believed me :) After the Generalife I went through the Puerta de Siete Cielos, the Arab bath, Palacio de Carlos V, and the Alhambra museum. I spent the entire morning there just soaking it all up and having my own personal send-off.
I came down, did a little shopping (I still have lots of Euros left!) then came to the CLM to turn in my art paper. I also had to say goodbye to Verónica, Aida, and Jeff – not particularly fun. We came back for a huge lunch (what’s new..) then I put off packing for a while longer. I finally gave in and started with all of my papers since that’s what would take me the longest. Taylor took a huge nap while I worked on that and then I started in with my clothes. It actually didn’t take me too long at all to get everything folded up and put in my suitcases but I just really didn’t want to do it. I started putting all of my heavy stuff in my little bag and I am honestly a little worried that it’s going to be 50 lbs! It’s unbelievable how many papers, books, and glasses I have to take home.. And thank goodness I got two sets of luggage tags for Christmas because there’s no way my other ones would even make it through the Granada airport. I put on my new ones and took off what was left of the other ones – aka a few threads. Taylor started packing her stuff and separating what she will need when her parents so our room and closet look totally empty and sad :(
After some tortillita española Mitch, Taylor and I walked to Ronda for some ice cream and to say goodbye to Graciela. It’s pretty difficult to meet up when one of you doesn’t have internet and neither have money left on their phone (somehow I ended up with -,03€ left, how is that possible?). We rang the buzzer about 100 times and since it’s broken poor Ami had to come all the way down to tell us Grace and Lucía weren’t even there. We went and got our ice cream then came back and she was still gone. I was sad because I doubt I’ll get back down to Ronda today and I have no idea when I would ever see Graciela again since she’ll be going back to Argentina soon.
Sidenote - I feel bad for people with allergies here – the pollen is out of control. Especially since the olive trees are in bloom and they’re, well, everywhere. I’ve seen tons of people walking around with swine flu masks (jk) Pobrecitos!
I had breakfast at 8:00, 15 minutes later than usual and Julia had a good laugh about that when I told her I would be leaving later. She was expecting to sleep in at least another half hour but unfortunately she still had to madrugar. Anyway, I bought tickets for the Alhambra the day before so I had a nice morning hike up there. It’s actually cooler and cloudy today but I was sweating by the time I got to the top! I only had tickets to the gardens which was only €7. I’ve heard the flowers are just gorgeous and the Generalife looks like a totally different place – and it was true! I can really tell why artists love Granada and where they get their material. It was just so peaceful with the water rushing around, the HUGE roses, the birds chirping, and the quiet of the morning (well, as quiet as Granada gets I suppose). Some man asked me to take a picture of him and I pretended like I only spoke Spanish .. and I think he believed me :) After the Generalife I went through the Puerta de Siete Cielos, the Arab bath, Palacio de Carlos V, and the Alhambra museum. I spent the entire morning there just soaking it all up and having my own personal send-off.
I came down, did a little shopping (I still have lots of Euros left!) then came to the CLM to turn in my art paper. I also had to say goodbye to Verónica, Aida, and Jeff – not particularly fun. We came back for a huge lunch (what’s new..) then I put off packing for a while longer. I finally gave in and started with all of my papers since that’s what would take me the longest. Taylor took a huge nap while I worked on that and then I started in with my clothes. It actually didn’t take me too long at all to get everything folded up and put in my suitcases but I just really didn’t want to do it. I started putting all of my heavy stuff in my little bag and I am honestly a little worried that it’s going to be 50 lbs! It’s unbelievable how many papers, books, and glasses I have to take home.. And thank goodness I got two sets of luggage tags for Christmas because there’s no way my other ones would even make it through the Granada airport. I put on my new ones and took off what was left of the other ones – aka a few threads. Taylor started packing her stuff and separating what she will need when her parents so our room and closet look totally empty and sad :(
After some tortillita española Mitch, Taylor and I walked to Ronda for some ice cream and to say goodbye to Graciela. It’s pretty difficult to meet up when one of you doesn’t have internet and neither have money left on their phone (somehow I ended up with -,03€ left, how is that possible?). We rang the buzzer about 100 times and since it’s broken poor Ami had to come all the way down to tell us Grace and Lucía weren’t even there. We went and got our ice cream then came back and she was still gone. I was sad because I doubt I’ll get back down to Ronda today and I have no idea when I would ever see Graciela again since she’ll be going back to Argentina soon.
Sidenote - I feel bad for people with allergies here – the pollen is out of control. Especially since the olive trees are in bloom and they’re, well, everywhere. I’ve seen tons of people walking around with swine flu masks (jk) Pobrecitos!
5-18-09
Monday, May 18, 2009
Got up at a decent time to do some last minute cramming (since I put off studying yet again) but I didn’t get much done. I guess I didn’t really feel like I needed to study since it’s grammar. I mean, if I don’t know it by now studying probably won’t help much! The test was pretty short and easy so I’m glad I didn’t waste my time worrying about it.
I hung around the CLM after the test and tried to write my Art History paper but I just couldn’t focus. I came back after lunch (cocido, noodle soup, and strawberries with nata) and finally got it done just before dinner. It was only two and a half pages and it took me all morning and afternoon to finish! On my way back I saw 5 middle school boys in their undies jumping in the river – hilarious.
I took a shower, we had dinner, then Mitch, Jeff, Taylor and I went to a tetería one last time for Jeff’s last night in Granada. It was really fun but I keep getting sadder to leave :(
Got up at a decent time to do some last minute cramming (since I put off studying yet again) but I didn’t get much done. I guess I didn’t really feel like I needed to study since it’s grammar. I mean, if I don’t know it by now studying probably won’t help much! The test was pretty short and easy so I’m glad I didn’t waste my time worrying about it.
I hung around the CLM after the test and tried to write my Art History paper but I just couldn’t focus. I came back after lunch (cocido, noodle soup, and strawberries with nata) and finally got it done just before dinner. It was only two and a half pages and it took me all morning and afternoon to finish! On my way back I saw 5 middle school boys in their undies jumping in the river – hilarious.
I took a shower, we had dinner, then Mitch, Jeff, Taylor and I went to a tetería one last time for Jeff’s last night in Granada. It was really fun but I keep getting sadder to leave :(
5-17-09
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Woke up around 9:45, grabbed breakfast, then met Jenn in front of the Cathedral. We peeked our heads in the big one and then the little one where they were having first communion! Everyone was super fancy and even though I felt incredibly touristy it was cool to see. We headed up to the Mirador but first stopped in Santa María church at the other side of Plaza Nueva. I love the sign that says, “With silence you can hear God better.” That’s a loose translation of course, but it cracks me up every time – most places just say “SILENCE, this is a holy place”. So we trekked up to the Mirador and I think it gets better every time. I really can’t pick a favorite trip up there because they were all so good. I will say that I loved the first time with Aurelio and the whole group, the night with Mitch when the moon was out of control, before the cena de despedida at sunset with everyone all dressed up, or last night with Mitch, Taylor, and Jeff. So in other words, pretty much every time. Anyway, I was really happy that Jenn loved it so much too. After hanging out there for a while I looked for the path up to the gypsy caves that Whitney showed me but I couldn’t find them so we just wandered through the Albaicín for a while. We went through the main plaza and then to the one with the Roman ruins then ended up at the Mosque that’s right by the Mirador. I’ve been wanting to go in there forever and I was so excited to see that it was open! There were some gorgeous flowers, fountains, and a great view of the Alhambra. We even got to see the fountain for the ablutions and the Mirhab! Of course we couldn’t go in since it’s reserved for prayer, but we got pretty close. I explained to her that sometimes you can hear the man who climbs the minaret to do the call to prayer but we didn’t hear it when we were there. I love that it’s a Muslim mosque in a Jewish quarter overlooking the Alhambra with the Christian Palacio above the Catholic cathedrals peeking out of the city below. Mind-blowing.
So then we came down to the Paseo de los Tristes, popped in another cathedral, and then I showed her the Corral del Carbón. Tour-guide Tammy kicked in (I didn’t even need Rick Steve’s, Aurelio, or Let’s Go! to help me – I can do it all on my own now :) and I felt like I kept giving all sorts of historical facts and anecdotes about Granada but I think she was glad to hear them because she kept asking questions. I guess whenever I travel somewhere I like to know more about what I’m seeing.
She grabbed a kebab for lunch (I showed her my favorite place) and we chilled in Plaza Nueva just chatting for a while. I showed her how to get up to the Alhambra from there, then I took her to the Alcaicería so she could do some souvenir shopping. I headed back for lunch since Juli Juli is starting her 4 day string of special goodbye meals. She’s really something else, ya know? We had veggie soup, stuffed peppers, and strawberries with whipped cream – YUM. I requested it (well, not the soup) as my last meal and Taylor’s request is hopefully coming up tomorrow. We still have to have cocido, paella, and tortilla española again. Whew! I’m also going to miss the food here..
I was absolutely stuffed so I sat around updating my journal and resting until Jenn called to meet up after she was done at the Alhambra. Since they don’t have free tapas in Madrid she wanted to experience them here so we met up with Taylor and went to a place by the cathedral then Europa. [Sidenote – on the way there some high school kid slapped my butt in the Alcaicería – joder!] We came back for dinner then went for ice cream ]at fiordigelato, I had to share my newfound favorite chocolate cone with stracciatella with Taylor. On our way we heard a band playing in the little streets across from Corté Inglés so we decided to check it out. Turns out there was a full-on procession! The only thing missing was the KKK outfits, apparently those are only used during Semana Santa. Anyway, we watched them maneuver the Virgen around some knee-breakers and a Dentista sign for a while which was pretty intense. We asked Julia why it was going on and she had no idea, apparently it was some Saint day and so they took the imagen of Angustias to the church by Corté Inglés.
Woke up around 9:45, grabbed breakfast, then met Jenn in front of the Cathedral. We peeked our heads in the big one and then the little one where they were having first communion! Everyone was super fancy and even though I felt incredibly touristy it was cool to see. We headed up to the Mirador but first stopped in Santa María church at the other side of Plaza Nueva. I love the sign that says, “With silence you can hear God better.” That’s a loose translation of course, but it cracks me up every time – most places just say “SILENCE, this is a holy place”. So we trekked up to the Mirador and I think it gets better every time. I really can’t pick a favorite trip up there because they were all so good. I will say that I loved the first time with Aurelio and the whole group, the night with Mitch when the moon was out of control, before the cena de despedida at sunset with everyone all dressed up, or last night with Mitch, Taylor, and Jeff. So in other words, pretty much every time. Anyway, I was really happy that Jenn loved it so much too. After hanging out there for a while I looked for the path up to the gypsy caves that Whitney showed me but I couldn’t find them so we just wandered through the Albaicín for a while. We went through the main plaza and then to the one with the Roman ruins then ended up at the Mosque that’s right by the Mirador. I’ve been wanting to go in there forever and I was so excited to see that it was open! There were some gorgeous flowers, fountains, and a great view of the Alhambra. We even got to see the fountain for the ablutions and the Mirhab! Of course we couldn’t go in since it’s reserved for prayer, but we got pretty close. I explained to her that sometimes you can hear the man who climbs the minaret to do the call to prayer but we didn’t hear it when we were there. I love that it’s a Muslim mosque in a Jewish quarter overlooking the Alhambra with the Christian Palacio above the Catholic cathedrals peeking out of the city below. Mind-blowing.
So then we came down to the Paseo de los Tristes, popped in another cathedral, and then I showed her the Corral del Carbón. Tour-guide Tammy kicked in (I didn’t even need Rick Steve’s, Aurelio, or Let’s Go! to help me – I can do it all on my own now :) and I felt like I kept giving all sorts of historical facts and anecdotes about Granada but I think she was glad to hear them because she kept asking questions. I guess whenever I travel somewhere I like to know more about what I’m seeing.
She grabbed a kebab for lunch (I showed her my favorite place) and we chilled in Plaza Nueva just chatting for a while. I showed her how to get up to the Alhambra from there, then I took her to the Alcaicería so she could do some souvenir shopping. I headed back for lunch since Juli Juli is starting her 4 day string of special goodbye meals. She’s really something else, ya know? We had veggie soup, stuffed peppers, and strawberries with whipped cream – YUM. I requested it (well, not the soup) as my last meal and Taylor’s request is hopefully coming up tomorrow. We still have to have cocido, paella, and tortilla española again. Whew! I’m also going to miss the food here..
I was absolutely stuffed so I sat around updating my journal and resting until Jenn called to meet up after she was done at the Alhambra. Since they don’t have free tapas in Madrid she wanted to experience them here so we met up with Taylor and went to a place by the cathedral then Europa. [Sidenote – on the way there some high school kid slapped my butt in the Alcaicería – joder!] We came back for dinner then went for ice cream ]at fiordigelato, I had to share my newfound favorite chocolate cone with stracciatella with Taylor. On our way we heard a band playing in the little streets across from Corté Inglés so we decided to check it out. Turns out there was a full-on procession! The only thing missing was the KKK outfits, apparently those are only used during Semana Santa. Anyway, we watched them maneuver the Virgen around some knee-breakers and a Dentista sign for a while which was pretty intense. We asked Julia why it was going on and she had no idea, apparently it was some Saint day and so they took the imagen of Angustias to the church by Corté Inglés.
5-16-09
Saturday, May 16, 2009
We woke up for breakfast around 10:00 then checked out of the hostel and headed straight for the beach. I stopped to buy a postcard on the way and we ran into Steph, Janelle, Ashley, Brooke, and Laura! We all went to the same place we were the day before and had another amazing afternoon a la playa. The weather could not have been more perfect and I got some great color! This time the cabana guy remembered me from the day before and to be proactive he drug away the chair that was next to Taylor haha. We left on the 4:30 bus which was perfect. The sun had just zapped us and on the way home we all slept pretty hard.
We showered, ate dinner then met up again around 10:00 and went up to the Mirador de San Nicolas. It was so bittersweet to be sitting on the ledge, looking over the city and the Alhambra, talking with Mitch, Jeff, and Taylor. I started to get really sad when we were talking about our favorite things and what we’re going to miss about this semester but I stopped myself from crying – I think I’ll get enough of that Thursday! I absolutely can’t believe I’m going home in 5 days. (I’m now writing this on Sunday afternoon and just shed my first pre-departure tears. Not cool.)
When we were walking down through Plaza Nueva I got a call from Jenn, a girl from Indiana who I met on the plane from Chicago to London on my way here. She’s studying in Madrid and after talking throughout the whole 7 hour flight or whatever it was we got to know each other pretty well. Anyway, she was making a day trip of Granada on her way from Sevilla and she had just got into town. The boys went home since they were still exhausted but Taylor and I met up with her to show her around a bit. We met in front of the cathedral and took her on a paseo to Bib-Rambla, Isabel la Catolica, Plaza de Carmen, Calle Navas, then to Café Fútbol in Mariana Pineda. We had some chocolate y churros (since they’re way better than they are in Madrid she had to try them) and hung out talking for quite a while. We loved talking about our own experiences and asking each other questions about their semester – it’s amazing how some things are so similar but some are completely different. After that we walked her by Chikito, down the Paseo in front of Corté Inglés, and to the river where Taylor left for home. I walked her back to her hostel then headed back home myself. I was exhausted since it was probably 2:45 before I went to bed!
When we were talking with Jenn she asked if Granada was a pretty safe place. I think this came up because there were all sorts of crazies honking, yelling, and shooting off whatever they were all night long because Barcelona won and was officially the champion of La Liga. Anyway, Taylor and I both feel totally safe walking around even at night in most places (there are definitely some sketchy areas that we avoid but we’ve known what they were since January so it’s no big deal). When I was walking home by myself I started to overthink things and get a little jumpy, especially when I remembered that Stephanie got robbed at knifepoint (Mom, I hope you don’t read this until I’m home safe and sound!!). I realized that I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve walked around by myself at night since I’m almost always coming home with Mitch, Taylor, or both of them. So when I got back Taylor told me that when she was crossing in front of Garabatos some guy on a moto drove up on the sidewalk beside her, slowed down, grabbed her butt, and drove off! Joder, que coñazo..
We woke up for breakfast around 10:00 then checked out of the hostel and headed straight for the beach. I stopped to buy a postcard on the way and we ran into Steph, Janelle, Ashley, Brooke, and Laura! We all went to the same place we were the day before and had another amazing afternoon a la playa. The weather could not have been more perfect and I got some great color! This time the cabana guy remembered me from the day before and to be proactive he drug away the chair that was next to Taylor haha. We left on the 4:30 bus which was perfect. The sun had just zapped us and on the way home we all slept pretty hard.
We showered, ate dinner then met up again around 10:00 and went up to the Mirador de San Nicolas. It was so bittersweet to be sitting on the ledge, looking over the city and the Alhambra, talking with Mitch, Jeff, and Taylor. I started to get really sad when we were talking about our favorite things and what we’re going to miss about this semester but I stopped myself from crying – I think I’ll get enough of that Thursday! I absolutely can’t believe I’m going home in 5 days. (I’m now writing this on Sunday afternoon and just shed my first pre-departure tears. Not cool.)
When we were walking down through Plaza Nueva I got a call from Jenn, a girl from Indiana who I met on the plane from Chicago to London on my way here. She’s studying in Madrid and after talking throughout the whole 7 hour flight or whatever it was we got to know each other pretty well. Anyway, she was making a day trip of Granada on her way from Sevilla and she had just got into town. The boys went home since they were still exhausted but Taylor and I met up with her to show her around a bit. We met in front of the cathedral and took her on a paseo to Bib-Rambla, Isabel la Catolica, Plaza de Carmen, Calle Navas, then to Café Fútbol in Mariana Pineda. We had some chocolate y churros (since they’re way better than they are in Madrid she had to try them) and hung out talking for quite a while. We loved talking about our own experiences and asking each other questions about their semester – it’s amazing how some things are so similar but some are completely different. After that we walked her by Chikito, down the Paseo in front of Corté Inglés, and to the river where Taylor left for home. I walked her back to her hostel then headed back home myself. I was exhausted since it was probably 2:45 before I went to bed!
When we were talking with Jenn she asked if Granada was a pretty safe place. I think this came up because there were all sorts of crazies honking, yelling, and shooting off whatever they were all night long because Barcelona won and was officially the champion of La Liga. Anyway, Taylor and I both feel totally safe walking around even at night in most places (there are definitely some sketchy areas that we avoid but we’ve known what they were since January so it’s no big deal). When I was walking home by myself I started to overthink things and get a little jumpy, especially when I remembered that Stephanie got robbed at knifepoint (Mom, I hope you don’t read this until I’m home safe and sound!!). I realized that I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve walked around by myself at night since I’m almost always coming home with Mitch, Taylor, or both of them. So when I got back Taylor told me that when she was crossing in front of Garabatos some guy on a moto drove up on the sidewalk beside her, slowed down, grabbed her butt, and drove off! Joder, que coñazo..
5-15-09
Friday, May 15, 2009
We took the 10 to the bus station then left on the 10:00 bus to Nerja. It’s such a pretty ride – I’m going to miss the mountains, olive trees, bridges, and the coast. We got to our hostel and when we checked in they gave us this sweet room for the four of us and as soon as we set our stuff down they came in and told us we were in the wrong one. Turns out Christine, Sara, and their friend were in that one and we got stuck in two small separate rooms with a bathroom to share. Anyway, we changed and headed straight for the beach but ran into the feria of Nerja – the Festival de San Isidro. It was basically a parade of covered wagons being pulled by bulls (oxen I was later told), flamenco dancers, horses, and plenty of music, food, and drinks. We finally made it through the shoulder to shoulder crowd and walked down to a beach just below the Balcón de Europa. It had really nice sand and BEAUTIFUL water. There were quite a few people there but it wasn’t too crowded thankfully. We spent the whole day just lounging in the sun and playing in the big waves, what a great day! At one point Taylor realized she had gotten plenty of sun so she sprung for a “havana” (not a “cabana”) but when the guy came to collect he caught me laying on one and almost made me pay for it..oops.
We came back and showered and relaxed watching some tv for a little bit (CNN in English) then decided to grab some dinner. We knew of a good pizza place to go to but when we got there it was closed for the feria.. like everything else in the town. We finally found a café/bar across from our hostel and got some pizza there. We were starving since we just had bocadillos for lunch so afterwards we went the gas station to stock up. After that we walked down to the beach and hung out watching the sun fade and listening to the waves. We started talking and getting a little too sentimental but then we ended up walking all along the shore, running around like fools, and just being crazy. When we came back we bothered Whitney and Cassandra and hung out in their room for a while before we had a mini water fight in the hall and went to bed. It was definitely one of the most fun nights I’ve had this semester!
We took the 10 to the bus station then left on the 10:00 bus to Nerja. It’s such a pretty ride – I’m going to miss the mountains, olive trees, bridges, and the coast. We got to our hostel and when we checked in they gave us this sweet room for the four of us and as soon as we set our stuff down they came in and told us we were in the wrong one. Turns out Christine, Sara, and their friend were in that one and we got stuck in two small separate rooms with a bathroom to share. Anyway, we changed and headed straight for the beach but ran into the feria of Nerja – the Festival de San Isidro. It was basically a parade of covered wagons being pulled by bulls (oxen I was later told), flamenco dancers, horses, and plenty of music, food, and drinks. We finally made it through the shoulder to shoulder crowd and walked down to a beach just below the Balcón de Europa. It had really nice sand and BEAUTIFUL water. There were quite a few people there but it wasn’t too crowded thankfully. We spent the whole day just lounging in the sun and playing in the big waves, what a great day! At one point Taylor realized she had gotten plenty of sun so she sprung for a “havana” (not a “cabana”) but when the guy came to collect he caught me laying on one and almost made me pay for it..oops.
We came back and showered and relaxed watching some tv for a little bit (CNN in English) then decided to grab some dinner. We knew of a good pizza place to go to but when we got there it was closed for the feria.. like everything else in the town. We finally found a café/bar across from our hostel and got some pizza there. We were starving since we just had bocadillos for lunch so afterwards we went the gas station to stock up. After that we walked down to the beach and hung out watching the sun fade and listening to the waves. We started talking and getting a little too sentimental but then we ended up walking all along the shore, running around like fools, and just being crazy. When we came back we bothered Whitney and Cassandra and hung out in their room for a while before we had a mini water fight in the hall and went to bed. It was definitely one of the most fun nights I’ve had this semester!
5-14-09
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I woke up around 6:15 to do some last minute studying for my literature final. I felt somewhat prepared when I got there but I totally messed up one section – I wrote about an author (Juán Ramón Jiménez) from the Generation of ’14 in the Civil War part aka 20+ years off.. Other than that I think it was ok.
I had just under a couple hours to review for my art final at 11:30 but I definitely did not use that time to my advantage. I’m just not good at studying .. I’ve accepted that. I had a pretty good grip on all of the works though and I knew there was no way I’d remember all the details. The test went pretty well, there were 6 images and we just had to write as much as we could about them.
We came back for lunch and it was another interesting experience with the girls. I found out that Julia rarely eats real food but in the summer she eats up to 12 ice creams a day and considers that her nourishment (they have eggs, cream, chocolate) and considers it healthy. She barely ate anything then scarfed her piece of ice cream cake and started eating of Valeria’s plate until Julia offered her half of what she had left. I know Julia just bought that ice cream cake for them since that’s all she eats but I know it’s expensive and something special – not something she deserves. Oh, and she gets 2, 3, or 4 hours per sleep a night and just claims, “es la vida italiana”. Mentira. I was there and A, the ice cream is the same as it is here in Spain (she thinks it’s healthier) and B, the streets were not full until all hours of the night – that’s called Granada.
After dinner Mitch, Jeff, Taylor, and I met up and went to Patty’s then Chupiteria 69 which we had never been to so that was fun. However, we had some trouble getting there after being hassled by a girl trying to give us a deal/invitation. I’m so sick of people trying to screw us over.. So then we headed to Ronda and went to Los Grifos, a place we heard was good and it was. We ran into Steph and Janelle and had some good tapas then came home.
I woke up around 6:15 to do some last minute studying for my literature final. I felt somewhat prepared when I got there but I totally messed up one section – I wrote about an author (Juán Ramón Jiménez) from the Generation of ’14 in the Civil War part aka 20+ years off.. Other than that I think it was ok.
I had just under a couple hours to review for my art final at 11:30 but I definitely did not use that time to my advantage. I’m just not good at studying .. I’ve accepted that. I had a pretty good grip on all of the works though and I knew there was no way I’d remember all the details. The test went pretty well, there were 6 images and we just had to write as much as we could about them.
We came back for lunch and it was another interesting experience with the girls. I found out that Julia rarely eats real food but in the summer she eats up to 12 ice creams a day and considers that her nourishment (they have eggs, cream, chocolate) and considers it healthy. She barely ate anything then scarfed her piece of ice cream cake and started eating of Valeria’s plate until Julia offered her half of what she had left. I know Julia just bought that ice cream cake for them since that’s all she eats but I know it’s expensive and something special – not something she deserves. Oh, and she gets 2, 3, or 4 hours per sleep a night and just claims, “es la vida italiana”. Mentira. I was there and A, the ice cream is the same as it is here in Spain (she thinks it’s healthier) and B, the streets were not full until all hours of the night – that’s called Granada.
After dinner Mitch, Jeff, Taylor, and I met up and went to Patty’s then Chupiteria 69 which we had never been to so that was fun. However, we had some trouble getting there after being hassled by a girl trying to give us a deal/invitation. I’m so sick of people trying to screw us over.. So then we headed to Ronda and went to Los Grifos, a place we heard was good and it was. We ran into Steph and Janelle and had some good tapas then came home.
5-13-09
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Went to my last grammar class then hung around and studied for my finals. I met up with Mitch and Taylor after their class then we went to Parque García Lorca and hung out among the roses until about 2:00 when we went to Graciela and Lucía’s piso for lunch. It was so sweet for them to invite us over and the food was delicious! They made salad, mashed potatoes, pork chops with veggies, bread, and a huge bucket of sangria. It wasn’t strong though and there was lots and lots of fruit in it, yum! Everything was so flavorful and original (except the boxed potatoes but I was so happy to have them after 4 months of going without) Taylor and Mitch had class/tests and Ami and the other girl had stuff to do so I hung out for a little while talking with Graciela, Lucía, and Christelle.
When it was finally time to go I came home to grab my computer and some notes then went back to the CLM. First I stopped for the best ice cream cone EVER – a chocolate cone with stracciatella so creamy it was almost soft-serve. I should’ve spent the afternoon studying like a madman but ended up Skyping .. oops. First I talked with Mom and then Dad came home so I got to talk to him too! Then I talked to Mandy and Roberta until it was time to go back for dinner. I miss them all so much, I can’t believe I’ll be seeing them in just over a week… Crazy!
We had dinner with the Italian girls (who I’m liking less and less each day) then did some serious studying. I have three finals tomorrow and I’m totally unprepared for all of them! While we were studying we heard Juli and little Julia talking about how they wanted to stay out until 2 or 2:30 and asked if she would still be up to let them in. Obviously we wouldn’t be using them until tomorrow so Juli gave them my keys since she’s a little fed up with this. Also, before they left she showed little Julia the new Hípercor ad since she knew the girls really like shopping. It had a bunch of cheap stuff for pretty cheap and she was just showing it to them so when she asked about a certain pair of pants in the ad Julia just bluntly said, “no me gustan” and ya está. How rude..
Went to my last grammar class then hung around and studied for my finals. I met up with Mitch and Taylor after their class then we went to Parque García Lorca and hung out among the roses until about 2:00 when we went to Graciela and Lucía’s piso for lunch. It was so sweet for them to invite us over and the food was delicious! They made salad, mashed potatoes, pork chops with veggies, bread, and a huge bucket of sangria. It wasn’t strong though and there was lots and lots of fruit in it, yum! Everything was so flavorful and original (except the boxed potatoes but I was so happy to have them after 4 months of going without) Taylor and Mitch had class/tests and Ami and the other girl had stuff to do so I hung out for a little while talking with Graciela, Lucía, and Christelle.
When it was finally time to go I came home to grab my computer and some notes then went back to the CLM. First I stopped for the best ice cream cone EVER – a chocolate cone with stracciatella so creamy it was almost soft-serve. I should’ve spent the afternoon studying like a madman but ended up Skyping .. oops. First I talked with Mom and then Dad came home so I got to talk to him too! Then I talked to Mandy and Roberta until it was time to go back for dinner. I miss them all so much, I can’t believe I’ll be seeing them in just over a week… Crazy!
We had dinner with the Italian girls (who I’m liking less and less each day) then did some serious studying. I have three finals tomorrow and I’m totally unprepared for all of them! While we were studying we heard Juli and little Julia talking about how they wanted to stay out until 2 or 2:30 and asked if she would still be up to let them in. Obviously we wouldn’t be using them until tomorrow so Juli gave them my keys since she’s a little fed up with this. Also, before they left she showed little Julia the new Hípercor ad since she knew the girls really like shopping. It had a bunch of cheap stuff for pretty cheap and she was just showing it to them so when she asked about a certain pair of pants in the ad Julia just bluntly said, “no me gustan” and ya está. How rude..
5-12-09
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
It was definitely tough to get out of bed this morning! Shouldn’t have stayed out so late, but I’d say it was definitely worth it. I went to my LAST LIT CLASS and it was as awful as every other one so far this semester. Man, I can’t wait to be done with it. After class I tried to go back to the Japanese park but it was all locked up so I just parked it on a ledge in the plaza by the CLM and napped for about an hour in the sun. Ahhh, Spain. Went to my last Art History class (yay!) and saw Taylor for the first time in what felt like forever even though it’s only been a few days.. I missed her! We had so much to catch up on but nowhere near enough time. I was really grouchy in class because we still had so much material to cover that he ended up skipping major sections and not giving us any sort of review for the final. I don’t understand why professors do that, it’s so ridiculous! The same thing happened in lit – we didn’t study one single author (until today) that is still alive. This is 20 and 21 century literature, folks. Which means that we should’ve covered SOMETHING past 1950.
Anyway, then during art Salvador asked us if we remembered about our essay. Umm, what essay?! Yeah, we have a 5 page paper due in two days. I was obviously frustrated about it and voiced my opinion and we ended up getting the deadline extended until next Tuesday. Definitely better but I’m still mad about it. Apparently it was on the syllabus so we were supposed to know. A. What student reads the syllabus to begin with and B. What student remembers end of the year assignments assigned in January?
Honestly.
We came home and had a big lunch and spent the whole time until class just chatting and catching up. Who needs to study, right? Well, quite frankly, I should. I went to POE then had 45 minutes before my French final that I hadn’t even looked at my notes for yet. I spent half of the time preparing for the written portion and the other half just blindly flipping through my packets and pretending like I was going to remember any of it. Turns out that the written portion wasn’t even on it – it was a totally different question than what he told me it would be! I was really hot and tired and grouchy so I feel like I wasn’t concentrating very well. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now – just wait to find out my grade!
I came back and did a little writing and picture sorting before dinner. All four of us girls sat around having some tortilla española – so cute. Taylor got the same impression as I did from the Italian girls, nice but sort of brash is maybe a good way to say it? One of them always says “ok” in this funny voice, we kept giggling at her but trying to hide it…
I took a shower after dinner and we successfully cleaned up the tornado of a room we had. I didn’t do any studying but did get caught up (except the 12 days I’m still missing from a month ago..) on my blogs. Mostly we just did more chatting and caught each other up on our recent news which was waaay better than schoolwork!
It was definitely tough to get out of bed this morning! Shouldn’t have stayed out so late, but I’d say it was definitely worth it. I went to my LAST LIT CLASS and it was as awful as every other one so far this semester. Man, I can’t wait to be done with it. After class I tried to go back to the Japanese park but it was all locked up so I just parked it on a ledge in the plaza by the CLM and napped for about an hour in the sun. Ahhh, Spain. Went to my last Art History class (yay!) and saw Taylor for the first time in what felt like forever even though it’s only been a few days.. I missed her! We had so much to catch up on but nowhere near enough time. I was really grouchy in class because we still had so much material to cover that he ended up skipping major sections and not giving us any sort of review for the final. I don’t understand why professors do that, it’s so ridiculous! The same thing happened in lit – we didn’t study one single author (until today) that is still alive. This is 20 and 21 century literature, folks. Which means that we should’ve covered SOMETHING past 1950.
Anyway, then during art Salvador asked us if we remembered about our essay. Umm, what essay?! Yeah, we have a 5 page paper due in two days. I was obviously frustrated about it and voiced my opinion and we ended up getting the deadline extended until next Tuesday. Definitely better but I’m still mad about it. Apparently it was on the syllabus so we were supposed to know. A. What student reads the syllabus to begin with and B. What student remembers end of the year assignments assigned in January?
Honestly.
We came home and had a big lunch and spent the whole time until class just chatting and catching up. Who needs to study, right? Well, quite frankly, I should. I went to POE then had 45 minutes before my French final that I hadn’t even looked at my notes for yet. I spent half of the time preparing for the written portion and the other half just blindly flipping through my packets and pretending like I was going to remember any of it. Turns out that the written portion wasn’t even on it – it was a totally different question than what he told me it would be! I was really hot and tired and grouchy so I feel like I wasn’t concentrating very well. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now – just wait to find out my grade!
I came back and did a little writing and picture sorting before dinner. All four of us girls sat around having some tortilla española – so cute. Taylor got the same impression as I did from the Italian girls, nice but sort of brash is maybe a good way to say it? One of them always says “ok” in this funny voice, we kept giggling at her but trying to hide it…
I took a shower after dinner and we successfully cleaned up the tornado of a room we had. I didn’t do any studying but did get caught up (except the 12 days I’m still missing from a month ago..) on my blogs. Mostly we just did more chatting and caught each other up on our recent news which was waaay better than schoolwork!
5-11-09
Monday, May 11, 2009
Had grammar then I stuck around the CLM to do some journaling/studying. We had a meeting at 2:30 so I didn’t have time to go home but I didn’t get much done. At the end of the meeting Verónica gave a short speech about how we were one of her favorite semesters, we haven’t had any major problems, and that she will really miss us L It was so sad – I’m not ready for goodbyes yet!
After the meeting I continued to be unproductive which is a slight problem since finals are this week..yikes! Then I went to our last tutorials where José took us to this cute little enclosed park behind the church by his office. It’s sort of Japanese-esque. We just sat in the shade of the purple blossom trees and talked about the semester and our future plans. I went back to the CLM yet again and got nothing done..again. I think senioritis is worse when you’re abroad!
Then I came home, changed, and fixed my make-up before going to Whitney’s. When I told Taylor she could take the straightener to Portugal I forgot that I would need it for tonight.. thankfully my friends are willing to share theirs! On my way I had three “issues”. 1. While in the crosswalk in front of Flamboyant, my clutch broke and I dropped it right in the middle of the street forcing me to bend over in my short dress (shorter than I remember it being!) while a city bus waited for the light to change. Great. 2. While passing by a garage door I pulled a Marilyn Monroe – for real. 3. Since I had some extra time I stop by Blanco to check out their new swimming suits. On my way down the stairs I biffed it … bad. Since my strap was broken on my clutch (that contained my camera and phone) I couldn’t catch myself with my arm so I tumbled down a few stairs and sprawled out on the floor in front of a large crowd. Nobody laughed along with me, just stared and asked if I was ok so I jetted as fast as I could!
Whitney was waiting for me at the gas station and said we had to change plans – her host family was being dumb (not surprising) so we were going to Cassandra’s instead. I was surprised to find out that my piso is much bigger than theirs! Hers was cute though and she has a little yippy dog – thank goodness I don’t have to deal with that. So I quick did my hair and we zipped off to the gas station to meet Cassandra, then we walked up to the Mirador together to meet the rest of the program for our farewell dinner.
It was so pretty when we got there – just before sunset so the Alhambra was lit by the beautiful last glimmer of sun from the day. It really reminded me of the first time we were up there as a group on Aurelio’s tour; that seems like just yesterday and forever ago at the same time! Everyone looked really nice and we took loads of pictures before walking to the restaurant. It was set up with two long tables and fancy place settings, bread and salad already on the table. I had so much fun – good food and good friends J How corny… but true! Throughout the meal everyone had their fair share of tinto de verano and Alhambra, that’s for sure.. even Veronica, Jose, and Aida. The first dish besides the salad and bread was a plate of meats and cheese then the second was red peppers stuffed with some seafood and a cold orange shrimp ball (Jeff took care of that for me). Next was some crab meat and French fries then….dessert! Small squares of caramel and chocolate cakes drizzled with topping, ice cream, and whipped cream. After that they gave us an after dinner “drink” aka a little shot of juice – cute and delicious!
It was so hard to leave, I felt like I should tell everyone goodbye since I might not see them all again .. ever. I decided not to get all sentimental and just make a point to despedir a mis mejores amigos la semana que viene. I took another picture with José and Verónica and gave them a hug which got me a little emotional but I also decided that I’ll just have to go say goodbye to them next week too.
After the dinner a group of us went to Hannigan’s even though it was already 12:00 on a Monday night. When in Spain.. Mitch and I shared our newfound Ron Miel with them and we just had a really good time hanging out and enjoying one of our last times together. It was a sad walk home with Mitch :( we got talking about the things we’ll miss and the amazing time we’ve had here. It sucks that so few people truly understand and can talk to me about my semester – even worse that I’m not going to be around most of those people after next week! Ugh.
Had grammar then I stuck around the CLM to do some journaling/studying. We had a meeting at 2:30 so I didn’t have time to go home but I didn’t get much done. At the end of the meeting Verónica gave a short speech about how we were one of her favorite semesters, we haven’t had any major problems, and that she will really miss us L It was so sad – I’m not ready for goodbyes yet!
After the meeting I continued to be unproductive which is a slight problem since finals are this week..yikes! Then I went to our last tutorials where José took us to this cute little enclosed park behind the church by his office. It’s sort of Japanese-esque. We just sat in the shade of the purple blossom trees and talked about the semester and our future plans. I went back to the CLM yet again and got nothing done..again. I think senioritis is worse when you’re abroad!
Then I came home, changed, and fixed my make-up before going to Whitney’s. When I told Taylor she could take the straightener to Portugal I forgot that I would need it for tonight.. thankfully my friends are willing to share theirs! On my way I had three “issues”. 1. While in the crosswalk in front of Flamboyant, my clutch broke and I dropped it right in the middle of the street forcing me to bend over in my short dress (shorter than I remember it being!) while a city bus waited for the light to change. Great. 2. While passing by a garage door I pulled a Marilyn Monroe – for real. 3. Since I had some extra time I stop by Blanco to check out their new swimming suits. On my way down the stairs I biffed it … bad. Since my strap was broken on my clutch (that contained my camera and phone) I couldn’t catch myself with my arm so I tumbled down a few stairs and sprawled out on the floor in front of a large crowd. Nobody laughed along with me, just stared and asked if I was ok so I jetted as fast as I could!
Whitney was waiting for me at the gas station and said we had to change plans – her host family was being dumb (not surprising) so we were going to Cassandra’s instead. I was surprised to find out that my piso is much bigger than theirs! Hers was cute though and she has a little yippy dog – thank goodness I don’t have to deal with that. So I quick did my hair and we zipped off to the gas station to meet Cassandra, then we walked up to the Mirador together to meet the rest of the program for our farewell dinner.
It was so pretty when we got there – just before sunset so the Alhambra was lit by the beautiful last glimmer of sun from the day. It really reminded me of the first time we were up there as a group on Aurelio’s tour; that seems like just yesterday and forever ago at the same time! Everyone looked really nice and we took loads of pictures before walking to the restaurant. It was set up with two long tables and fancy place settings, bread and salad already on the table. I had so much fun – good food and good friends J How corny… but true! Throughout the meal everyone had their fair share of tinto de verano and Alhambra, that’s for sure.. even Veronica, Jose, and Aida. The first dish besides the salad and bread was a plate of meats and cheese then the second was red peppers stuffed with some seafood and a cold orange shrimp ball (Jeff took care of that for me). Next was some crab meat and French fries then….dessert! Small squares of caramel and chocolate cakes drizzled with topping, ice cream, and whipped cream. After that they gave us an after dinner “drink” aka a little shot of juice – cute and delicious!
It was so hard to leave, I felt like I should tell everyone goodbye since I might not see them all again .. ever. I decided not to get all sentimental and just make a point to despedir a mis mejores amigos la semana que viene. I took another picture with José and Verónica and gave them a hug which got me a little emotional but I also decided that I’ll just have to go say goodbye to them next week too.
After the dinner a group of us went to Hannigan’s even though it was already 12:00 on a Monday night. When in Spain.. Mitch and I shared our newfound Ron Miel with them and we just had a really good time hanging out and enjoying one of our last times together. It was a sad walk home with Mitch :( we got talking about the things we’ll miss and the amazing time we’ve had here. It sucks that so few people truly understand and can talk to me about my semester – even worse that I’m not going to be around most of those people after next week! Ugh.
5-10-09
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Mother’s Day!! Better yet, Happy Mather’s Dog!
Woke up around 10:30 which was just wonderful. I love sleeping in and that’s all there is to it! I had some breakfast then got ready to leave. José, Mitch, and I left and went to pick up Whitney at the gas station (the only one in the city, everyone knows it – corner of Recogidas and Ronda). He drove us to Monachil, the cute little pueblo of Granada where he used to spend his summers. We hiked ALL afternoon long – so fun! We were up, down, and all around those mountains. We saw several swinging bridges, waterfalls, and had lunch in the crisp, fresh air. The weather was perfect and I got a little tan line even though I was wearing sunscreen. There was a long stretch of the hike where we were walking along the path by the river and we had to hang onto rock-climbing hooks or crawl under the gigantic rock formations on the banks. It was so much fun but a little scary! Once we had to jump down from the cement into the water to hop across the rocks since there were so many people, but we got trapped! Mitch was tall enough to push himself up onto the ledge then climb but José opted to just wade through the water to the next big rock. Neither Whitney nor I are tall/strong enough to pull ourselves up and we definitely weren’t about to get our feet soaking wet so we made quite a scene trying to climb/push/pull each other out of the water. I think all four of us had a really good time with the senderismo J I’m so thankful that José was willing to take us! And I do have to admit that I’m in a lot better shape than I was the last time we went hiking – I wasn’t breathing nearly as hard or sweating as much.
After we got back we decided to go for some ice cream so Mitch, Whitney, and I ended up at Flamboyant, the pastelería I pass every day. It’s also where Taylor’s birthday cake was from – delicious if I remember correctly.. I opted for the cheesecake – different but still good. Cake instead of a graham cracker crust and strawberry jelly almost instead of topping. We took a little paseo and ended up at another place I walk by every day and have been wanting to try. We just assumed there would be tapas (I always see people with them on Sunday afternoons..) but this place was just stingy I think. So after a pastel and a clara what do we do? Go for churros, obviously. We met up with Cassandra and went to Café Futbol which was delicious as expected. Not as good as Alhambra but definitely high quality. Afterward I decided that enough was enough and I needed to quit eating and start studying! I sat by the river for a while and prepared some Art History stuff for the final. Yuck, I hate studying and I know this week is going to be full of it L
After that I came home and Mom called me back! I got to talk to her, Dad, and Mandy for a little bit until I had dinner. After dinner I went to the internet café and Skyped with them for a while. Man, do I hate that place – creepy, smelly people and crappy, overpriced computers. But, I got to talk to Mom, Dad, and Laura! Definitely worth the tradeoff. Everyone sounded good – I can’t wait to see them next week!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that at dinner Julia and I were talking about churros and I asked the Italian girls if they had tried them. Since they said no I invited them to go but they were definitely not interested. They seemed to know what they were and by the description “fried bread with melted chocolate” I’m not sure what put them off. I couldn’t think of a better treat to tell you the truth! I also asked them about tapas and they weren’t too impressed.. Either way, I give up on trying to take them out. And, Julia told me that they don’t eat breakfast – just a mug of ColaCao. I think she’s a little offended that they don’t eat her food; she seemed a little insulted at dinner.
Happy Mother’s Day!! Better yet, Happy Mather’s Dog!
Woke up around 10:30 which was just wonderful. I love sleeping in and that’s all there is to it! I had some breakfast then got ready to leave. José, Mitch, and I left and went to pick up Whitney at the gas station (the only one in the city, everyone knows it – corner of Recogidas and Ronda). He drove us to Monachil, the cute little pueblo of Granada where he used to spend his summers. We hiked ALL afternoon long – so fun! We were up, down, and all around those mountains. We saw several swinging bridges, waterfalls, and had lunch in the crisp, fresh air. The weather was perfect and I got a little tan line even though I was wearing sunscreen. There was a long stretch of the hike where we were walking along the path by the river and we had to hang onto rock-climbing hooks or crawl under the gigantic rock formations on the banks. It was so much fun but a little scary! Once we had to jump down from the cement into the water to hop across the rocks since there were so many people, but we got trapped! Mitch was tall enough to push himself up onto the ledge then climb but José opted to just wade through the water to the next big rock. Neither Whitney nor I are tall/strong enough to pull ourselves up and we definitely weren’t about to get our feet soaking wet so we made quite a scene trying to climb/push/pull each other out of the water. I think all four of us had a really good time with the senderismo J I’m so thankful that José was willing to take us! And I do have to admit that I’m in a lot better shape than I was the last time we went hiking – I wasn’t breathing nearly as hard or sweating as much.
After we got back we decided to go for some ice cream so Mitch, Whitney, and I ended up at Flamboyant, the pastelería I pass every day. It’s also where Taylor’s birthday cake was from – delicious if I remember correctly.. I opted for the cheesecake – different but still good. Cake instead of a graham cracker crust and strawberry jelly almost instead of topping. We took a little paseo and ended up at another place I walk by every day and have been wanting to try. We just assumed there would be tapas (I always see people with them on Sunday afternoons..) but this place was just stingy I think. So after a pastel and a clara what do we do? Go for churros, obviously. We met up with Cassandra and went to Café Futbol which was delicious as expected. Not as good as Alhambra but definitely high quality. Afterward I decided that enough was enough and I needed to quit eating and start studying! I sat by the river for a while and prepared some Art History stuff for the final. Yuck, I hate studying and I know this week is going to be full of it L
After that I came home and Mom called me back! I got to talk to her, Dad, and Mandy for a little bit until I had dinner. After dinner I went to the internet café and Skyped with them for a while. Man, do I hate that place – creepy, smelly people and crappy, overpriced computers. But, I got to talk to Mom, Dad, and Laura! Definitely worth the tradeoff. Everyone sounded good – I can’t wait to see them next week!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that at dinner Julia and I were talking about churros and I asked the Italian girls if they had tried them. Since they said no I invited them to go but they were definitely not interested. They seemed to know what they were and by the description “fried bread with melted chocolate” I’m not sure what put them off. I couldn’t think of a better treat to tell you the truth! I also asked them about tapas and they weren’t too impressed.. Either way, I give up on trying to take them out. And, Julia told me that they don’t eat breakfast – just a mug of ColaCao. I think she’s a little offended that they don’t eat her food; she seemed a little insulted at dinner.
5-9-09
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Woke up around 10:00 and had a big breakfast on the patio. It was nice until it started SPRINKLING on us. Not cool for our beach day.. After checking out and whatnot I decided to go to the caves since I’ve heard they’re really cool. I hoped to waste some time and maybe it would be sunny by the time I was done. Everyone else had already been there so I went alone – no big deal. I got there and one of the other programs from the CLM was there too, what a coincidence! It was super expensive to get in and although it was really cool, I don’t think it was worth it. They’re pretty similar to the ones in Gibraltar except this one has the “world’s biggest stalactite/stalagmite column” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Doubt it. Do you know how many caves are undiscovered in this world? Yes, it was pretty large but I choose to believe that this can’t possibly be the biggest. Also, when you enter the cave they took one of those surprise pictures of you like they do on roller coasters then you go to a little stand to look at it afterward. I wouldn’t hesitate to say it was one of the worst pictures of myself that has ever been taken. I look thoroughly unimpressed and quite frankly, pissed off. This must have been right after I paid €8.50 then ran into a bunch of English-speaking people who I sort of know but not well enough to talk to – an awkward situation, to say the least. Needless to say, I did not purchase the photo.
After I was done inside I decided to skip the €1 return bus ticket and walk since it wasn’t too far and it wasn’t raining. Bad choice. The only good part was that I got a couple good pictures of an aqueduct and a pretty bridge. And some exercise. I wound up at the Balcón de Europa after a pit-stop at Mercadona for some strawberries, Doritos, and candy. The lookout/plaza was pretty and it was nice but once again, I wasn’t that impressed. It was SO windy and there was a group of Native Americans playing music – two things I didn’t foresee but should’ve expected. Instead of climbing the 120498 steps straight down to the beaches below that looked private anyway, I decided to search out the main beach a few blocks away. Turns out that I walked right past the road that leads to it on my way back from the caves but it’s not marked. Great. Anyway, I got there and had a wonderful couple of hours on the sand reading my book and eating some treats. That is, until this man and his mom came strolling along and instead of sitting, oh ANYWHERE else on the wide open beach, they start putting their stuff down two and a half feet from where I was laying. Clearly, I was not pleased and shot them a look that told them so. They got the hint and realized how ridiculous they were being so they scooted another 2 ½ feet away. Thanks for the personal space, you Europeans, you. By the time I had to go it had cleared up a little bit but the minute I got on the bus it started raining and didn’t stop the whole way home. Thankfully I took the 4:30 bus instead of the later one! I don’t know why I’m being to Debbie Downer about Nerja but I hope it’s better next weekend. I think if it would’ve been sunny I would’ve been much happier!
When I got home Julia introduced me to the two Italian girls who were taking a nap. They seemed pretty cool and spoke really good Spanish. I took a shower, and then we had dinner where neither Julia nor Valeria ate a full meal. I had to eat the whole quesito by myself! And even though we were eating empanadas and french fries, they never put down their fork and knife. Anyway, I found out this is Julia’s fourth time to Spain and both of them speak Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian. And they’re only 17 and 18 years old .. great. We started talking about how they had a curfew and since they don’t have keys Julia will only stay up until 1:00 to let them in. We all thought that’s kind of silly so I said they could call me and meet up after their flamenco show then we would go out then go home together since I have a key.
So I went up to the Mirador – beautiful. It was by far the best trip up there yet (besides the first time, but that was daylight). We watched the moon rise over the mountains and light up the sky, the city, and of course, the Alhambra/Generalife. It was absolutely gorgeous! We came down and went for a round of tapas at my favorite place that I still don’t know the name of. Anyway, they serve San Miguel and the best tapas around. The only bad part is that it’s run by a bunch of Brits… not too authentic but it doesn’t stop me from going! There’s always lots of Spaniards there so I think it’s fine. Anyway, the tapa was salmon in a thick sauce – almost artichoke-y. Sounds weird and gross but it was really good. Also, Mitch has been dying to try some Ron Miel since we got here and we finally spotted it at this bar. Delicious! It was everything I hoped it would be and the fact that it’s only sold in Spain and it’s fabricated in the Canaries only adds to its greatness. It was so sad not to have Jeff and Taylor with us, it seems like we always go out in our group of 4 nowdays.. After that we headed home and the second I laid my head on my pillow I got a call from the Italian girls saying they were heading home in 45 minutes and asked me to let them in. I whispered back and forth with Julia through her door and told her I would take care of it. So, in the middle of phase 4 of the sleep cycle I get a lovely ring-a-ding-ding and walk down 3 flights of stairs to let them in. The best part? I slipped on the last stair (I was in my slippers, give me a break) and fell right on my butt. They probably saw me or heard me yelp but I didn’t really care since I was still half asleep. I didn’t bother asking about the show or why they didn’t call me earlier. I should’ve seen this coming but I thought it would be fun to meet up and show them some of our favorite spots for nightlife. Guess they weren’t interested in hanging out but only wanted to use me as a way to stay out later.. oh, high school.
Woke up around 10:00 and had a big breakfast on the patio. It was nice until it started SPRINKLING on us. Not cool for our beach day.. After checking out and whatnot I decided to go to the caves since I’ve heard they’re really cool. I hoped to waste some time and maybe it would be sunny by the time I was done. Everyone else had already been there so I went alone – no big deal. I got there and one of the other programs from the CLM was there too, what a coincidence! It was super expensive to get in and although it was really cool, I don’t think it was worth it. They’re pretty similar to the ones in Gibraltar except this one has the “world’s biggest stalactite/stalagmite column” according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Doubt it. Do you know how many caves are undiscovered in this world? Yes, it was pretty large but I choose to believe that this can’t possibly be the biggest. Also, when you enter the cave they took one of those surprise pictures of you like they do on roller coasters then you go to a little stand to look at it afterward. I wouldn’t hesitate to say it was one of the worst pictures of myself that has ever been taken. I look thoroughly unimpressed and quite frankly, pissed off. This must have been right after I paid €8.50 then ran into a bunch of English-speaking people who I sort of know but not well enough to talk to – an awkward situation, to say the least. Needless to say, I did not purchase the photo.
After I was done inside I decided to skip the €1 return bus ticket and walk since it wasn’t too far and it wasn’t raining. Bad choice. The only good part was that I got a couple good pictures of an aqueduct and a pretty bridge. And some exercise. I wound up at the Balcón de Europa after a pit-stop at Mercadona for some strawberries, Doritos, and candy. The lookout/plaza was pretty and it was nice but once again, I wasn’t that impressed. It was SO windy and there was a group of Native Americans playing music – two things I didn’t foresee but should’ve expected. Instead of climbing the 120498 steps straight down to the beaches below that looked private anyway, I decided to search out the main beach a few blocks away. Turns out that I walked right past the road that leads to it on my way back from the caves but it’s not marked. Great. Anyway, I got there and had a wonderful couple of hours on the sand reading my book and eating some treats. That is, until this man and his mom came strolling along and instead of sitting, oh ANYWHERE else on the wide open beach, they start putting their stuff down two and a half feet from where I was laying. Clearly, I was not pleased and shot them a look that told them so. They got the hint and realized how ridiculous they were being so they scooted another 2 ½ feet away. Thanks for the personal space, you Europeans, you. By the time I had to go it had cleared up a little bit but the minute I got on the bus it started raining and didn’t stop the whole way home. Thankfully I took the 4:30 bus instead of the later one! I don’t know why I’m being to Debbie Downer about Nerja but I hope it’s better next weekend. I think if it would’ve been sunny I would’ve been much happier!
When I got home Julia introduced me to the two Italian girls who were taking a nap. They seemed pretty cool and spoke really good Spanish. I took a shower, and then we had dinner where neither Julia nor Valeria ate a full meal. I had to eat the whole quesito by myself! And even though we were eating empanadas and french fries, they never put down their fork and knife. Anyway, I found out this is Julia’s fourth time to Spain and both of them speak Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian. And they’re only 17 and 18 years old .. great. We started talking about how they had a curfew and since they don’t have keys Julia will only stay up until 1:00 to let them in. We all thought that’s kind of silly so I said they could call me and meet up after their flamenco show then we would go out then go home together since I have a key.
So I went up to the Mirador – beautiful. It was by far the best trip up there yet (besides the first time, but that was daylight). We watched the moon rise over the mountains and light up the sky, the city, and of course, the Alhambra/Generalife. It was absolutely gorgeous! We came down and went for a round of tapas at my favorite place that I still don’t know the name of. Anyway, they serve San Miguel and the best tapas around. The only bad part is that it’s run by a bunch of Brits… not too authentic but it doesn’t stop me from going! There’s always lots of Spaniards there so I think it’s fine. Anyway, the tapa was salmon in a thick sauce – almost artichoke-y. Sounds weird and gross but it was really good. Also, Mitch has been dying to try some Ron Miel since we got here and we finally spotted it at this bar. Delicious! It was everything I hoped it would be and the fact that it’s only sold in Spain and it’s fabricated in the Canaries only adds to its greatness. It was so sad not to have Jeff and Taylor with us, it seems like we always go out in our group of 4 nowdays.. After that we headed home and the second I laid my head on my pillow I got a call from the Italian girls saying they were heading home in 45 minutes and asked me to let them in. I whispered back and forth with Julia through her door and told her I would take care of it. So, in the middle of phase 4 of the sleep cycle I get a lovely ring-a-ding-ding and walk down 3 flights of stairs to let them in. The best part? I slipped on the last stair (I was in my slippers, give me a break) and fell right on my butt. They probably saw me or heard me yelp but I didn’t really care since I was still half asleep. I didn’t bother asking about the show or why they didn’t call me earlier. I should’ve seen this coming but I thought it would be fun to meet up and show them some of our favorite spots for nightlife. Guess they weren’t interested in hanging out but only wanted to use me as a way to stay out later.. oh, high school.
5-8-09
Friday, May 8, 2009
Almunecar, beach, market, bought new skirt, bus to Nerja
Christine, Whitney, Sara, Mitch, me
Almunecar, beach, market, bought new skirt, bus to Nerja
Christine, Whitney, Sara, Mitch, me
5-7-09
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Went to class then on my way back I called Grandma Aalbers and got to talk to her for a little bit! They were getting ready to go to Tulip Time – how fun! It was good to chat for a bit, can’t wait to see everyone soon! I also called Grandma and Grandpa but they didn’t answer; maybe I’ll get to talk to them sometime this week.
Nothing too exciting happened during the day, I guess it was a little quieter without Taylor around. I did have my last French class which was a little weird.. I should really get going on my studying for finals! During lunch Julia told me that two Italian girls are coming to stay with us! I wonder what they’ll be like.. They’re only here for a week but I’m kind of excited to have them around the house. After dinner Mitch and I wanted to go to Flamboyant for some dessert but they were closed. Instead we went for churros and chocolate at Café Alhambra then for a tapita at Chikito – two things I wanted to do before leaving! It was such a beautiful night and we had the best seats in the house. Actually, outside the house. From Bib-Rambla we could see the cathedral and from Chikito we could see the Fuente de la Batalla. When we were sitting there Rick, the other group’s tour guide from Morocco walked past – such a small world! I just can’t imagine leaving yet, I’m not ready to go home L Came back and took a shower, packed, and jumped into my bed with new sheets – poppies! Taylor will be sad that our flannel is gone..
Went to class then on my way back I called Grandma Aalbers and got to talk to her for a little bit! They were getting ready to go to Tulip Time – how fun! It was good to chat for a bit, can’t wait to see everyone soon! I also called Grandma and Grandpa but they didn’t answer; maybe I’ll get to talk to them sometime this week.
Nothing too exciting happened during the day, I guess it was a little quieter without Taylor around. I did have my last French class which was a little weird.. I should really get going on my studying for finals! During lunch Julia told me that two Italian girls are coming to stay with us! I wonder what they’ll be like.. They’re only here for a week but I’m kind of excited to have them around the house. After dinner Mitch and I wanted to go to Flamboyant for some dessert but they were closed. Instead we went for churros and chocolate at Café Alhambra then for a tapita at Chikito – two things I wanted to do before leaving! It was such a beautiful night and we had the best seats in the house. Actually, outside the house. From Bib-Rambla we could see the cathedral and from Chikito we could see the Fuente de la Batalla. When we were sitting there Rick, the other group’s tour guide from Morocco walked past – such a small world! I just can’t imagine leaving yet, I’m not ready to go home L Came back and took a shower, packed, and jumped into my bed with new sheets – poppies! Taylor will be sad that our flannel is gone..
5-6-09
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
I woke up for Grammar then quick tried to look up some flights for this weekend. Obviously everything was full or super expensive so it looks like I’m not doing anything too crazy this weekend L Hopefully I’ll spend a couple days at the beach and go hiking with Mitch and José. After that I walked to Parque García Lorca and went through the casa-museo since it’s free on Wednesdays. I met up with Steph and we took the guided tour through Lorca’s family’s summer house that’s right in the middle of the park. It was sooo cool! After he and was shot during the Civil War his family moved to New York and left the house completely intact to the servants. Almost everything in the house was in its original form. His bedroom had a desk where he wrote Bodas de sangre, Yerma, and La casa de Bernarda Alba! There were pictures, rough drafts, letters, and some of his artwork on display (he was actually quite talented – surrealism). I’m such a nerd but it was awesome! After the visit I whipped my blanket out of my bag and sat down in the sun. I finished up my Granada Seminar paper then laid down and soaked up some rays for a while. The park was so beautiful – sun, grass, people, and the biggest most beautiful roses I’ve ever seen.
On the way home I called Mom but she didn’t answer, and then called back a little while later. I wish I could be home with everyone today but I guess I’ll be there in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! It was so good to talk to her though J I also caught Dad! We had lunch, I did some writing and homework, then I Skyped with Mom, Mandy, Laura, and Rob! Mom’s new computer looks pretty nice and she seemed pretty happy with it. Everyone else was good, I can’t believe I’ll be seeing them all so soon – I can’t wait!
Just for the record, Julia is getting crazier and crazier. This morning she told us not to rip off the shiny wrapper that covers the inside of the ColaCao because if it’s flapped over it keeps it fresher. Taylor ripped the one off the butter one morning and she put it back on. Gross! She also is convinced that I can go to Halcon Viajes and get a cheap trip for this weekend to the Canary Islands – cheaper than RyanAir?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!
I woke up for Grammar then quick tried to look up some flights for this weekend. Obviously everything was full or super expensive so it looks like I’m not doing anything too crazy this weekend L Hopefully I’ll spend a couple days at the beach and go hiking with Mitch and José. After that I walked to Parque García Lorca and went through the casa-museo since it’s free on Wednesdays. I met up with Steph and we took the guided tour through Lorca’s family’s summer house that’s right in the middle of the park. It was sooo cool! After he and was shot during the Civil War his family moved to New York and left the house completely intact to the servants. Almost everything in the house was in its original form. His bedroom had a desk where he wrote Bodas de sangre, Yerma, and La casa de Bernarda Alba! There were pictures, rough drafts, letters, and some of his artwork on display (he was actually quite talented – surrealism). I’m such a nerd but it was awesome! After the visit I whipped my blanket out of my bag and sat down in the sun. I finished up my Granada Seminar paper then laid down and soaked up some rays for a while. The park was so beautiful – sun, grass, people, and the biggest most beautiful roses I’ve ever seen.
On the way home I called Mom but she didn’t answer, and then called back a little while later. I wish I could be home with everyone today but I guess I’ll be there in two weeks. TWO WEEKS! It was so good to talk to her though J I also caught Dad! We had lunch, I did some writing and homework, then I Skyped with Mom, Mandy, Laura, and Rob! Mom’s new computer looks pretty nice and she seemed pretty happy with it. Everyone else was good, I can’t believe I’ll be seeing them all so soon – I can’t wait!
Just for the record, Julia is getting crazier and crazier. This morning she told us not to rip off the shiny wrapper that covers the inside of the ColaCao because if it’s flapped over it keeps it fresher. Taylor ripped the one off the butter one morning and she put it back on. Gross! She also is convinced that I can go to Halcon Viajes and get a cheap trip for this weekend to the Canary Islands – cheaper than RyanAir?
5-5-09
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Went to lit then during my break I finally went and bought the Manuel Carrasco CD from Corté Inglés (only 6 euros!) and another Orange card. I’ve been trying to get one for almost a week, since I missed both Dad and Mandy’s calls and couldn’t call them back since I gave my last minutes to Taylor. Of course they’re never open when I walk by or every time they are I forget. Anyway, I had an email from Nicole saying that she would be home on Tuesday and to call her so we could figure it out. She didn’t answer but their home answering machine was so cute – bilingual J I might do that just for fun someday.
After that I tried to prepare for my lit final while sitting in the sun with Steph and Brigitte, had art, and then came home for lunch. We had the delicious chicken with garlic, veggie soup, and ice cream cake. I went to class and during French Nicole called me. It was so fun to talk to her and catch up but the bad news is that I’m not going to Switzerland this weekend L From the way she asked, “So I guess it’s too late now?” made me think that I shouldn’t push for an invitation. Bummer. After that Taylor, Mitch, Jeff, and I went for tapas after class. We were going to go home after one but ended up texting Julia to tell her we weren’t coming home for dinner. We went to a few of our favorite places and had kebabs and tragalliani ice cream. We ran into Graciela and Lucía near Plaza Nueva and they invited us over for lunch next week. I wish I would’ve spent more time hanging out with those girls – they’re so fun!
Went to lit then during my break I finally went and bought the Manuel Carrasco CD from Corté Inglés (only 6 euros!) and another Orange card. I’ve been trying to get one for almost a week, since I missed both Dad and Mandy’s calls and couldn’t call them back since I gave my last minutes to Taylor. Of course they’re never open when I walk by or every time they are I forget. Anyway, I had an email from Nicole saying that she would be home on Tuesday and to call her so we could figure it out. She didn’t answer but their home answering machine was so cute – bilingual J I might do that just for fun someday.
After that I tried to prepare for my lit final while sitting in the sun with Steph and Brigitte, had art, and then came home for lunch. We had the delicious chicken with garlic, veggie soup, and ice cream cake. I went to class and during French Nicole called me. It was so fun to talk to her and catch up but the bad news is that I’m not going to Switzerland this weekend L From the way she asked, “So I guess it’s too late now?” made me think that I shouldn’t push for an invitation. Bummer. After that Taylor, Mitch, Jeff, and I went for tapas after class. We were going to go home after one but ended up texting Julia to tell her we weren’t coming home for dinner. We went to a few of our favorite places and had kebabs and tragalliani ice cream. We ran into Graciela and Lucía near Plaza Nueva and they invited us over for lunch next week. I wish I would’ve spent more time hanging out with those girls – they’re so fun!
5-4-09
Monday, May 4, 2009
Woke up and went to grammar as usual. Then I headed straight upstairs to do some cramming for the phonetics test I had later. I did pretty well for a while then came home and worked on my pictures for a while. There’s just waaaay too many – what am I going to do with all of them? Julia made a new dish for lunch today, it was sort of like paella but had some different ingredients, namely bacalao (codfish, not baklava). After lunch I relaxed until my stomach settled then grabbed my stuff and went to tutorías. One thing I didn’t grab, however was my little bag that has my webcam and iPod cord in it. Why didn’t I take it? Because it is currently MIA. Not good. After class I went to the consegería and it wasn’t in the lost and found. I chatted with Mom for a bit, did some more cramming, then had my test which went pretty well. The only problem I had was that I didn’t memorize the three branches of fonética – how stupid. It was specifically written on the study guide that José told us to memorize and somehow I just glazed over it. Anyway after that I came back and borrowed Mitch’s computer to Skype Roberta. The connection wasn’t great on either end so it was frustrating and hard to have a real conversation. At least I got to see him and talk for a little while though! It’s been a long time.. Then we had dinner, I took a shower, did some writing and hit the sack.
Woke up and went to grammar as usual. Then I headed straight upstairs to do some cramming for the phonetics test I had later. I did pretty well for a while then came home and worked on my pictures for a while. There’s just waaaay too many – what am I going to do with all of them? Julia made a new dish for lunch today, it was sort of like paella but had some different ingredients, namely bacalao (codfish, not baklava). After lunch I relaxed until my stomach settled then grabbed my stuff and went to tutorías. One thing I didn’t grab, however was my little bag that has my webcam and iPod cord in it. Why didn’t I take it? Because it is currently MIA. Not good. After class I went to the consegería and it wasn’t in the lost and found. I chatted with Mom for a bit, did some more cramming, then had my test which went pretty well. The only problem I had was that I didn’t memorize the three branches of fonética – how stupid. It was specifically written on the study guide that José told us to memorize and somehow I just glazed over it. Anyway after that I came back and borrowed Mitch’s computer to Skype Roberta. The connection wasn’t great on either end so it was frustrating and hard to have a real conversation. At least I got to see him and talk for a little while though! It’s been a long time.. Then we had dinner, I took a shower, did some writing and hit the sack.
5-3-09
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Slept in until 11:00ish which felt wonderful! We had breakfast and then I went down to the patio to do some homework. I put on a tanktop and shorts and wrote my Granada Seminar paper while the sun scorched my shoulders. Taylor came down and we bought Julia some flowers from the place around the corner since it was Mother’s Day. We took them up for her just before lunch and she was so happy J She had a special table set and a fancy meal prepared for the big day so I’m glad we didn’t show up empty-handed. We had some gross potato salad with mayonnaise again but each dish went up from there. Next was some sort of dark meat in a dark sauce that had a really good flavor. Then, our surprise – dessert! Not just any dessert, strawberries with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream cake with chocolate shavings. Heavenly. The best part is that there’s a whole cake so we get some every day this week until it’s gone!
After lunch Taylor and I went on a little paseo around Granada to check out the crosses for Día de la Cruz. There are huge altars around in plazas and streetcorners that have big crosses covered in carnations, the blue and white pottery, shawls, water, and an apple with scissors through it. An apple is also called a pero colloquially so it’s symbolic to remind people not to critique the cross. Aka, it’s to cut out the “yeah it’s pretty, but..” We saw quite a few and at the Ayuntamiento there was a stage with people dancing flamenco all around. Lots of people were wearing the fancy dresses, and the little girls were just adorable.
We came back with just a couple minutes to spare to change our clothes and grab our stuff before we met Mitch for the soccer game. We walked to the Palacio de Deportes, which isn’t too far from our house, to the big stadium. There weren’t many people there but we were early so we figured it was just a Spanish thing. We bought our tickets and killed some time before we found our seats. I asked a worker if I could buy one of the posters and she said I could just rip one off the wall and take it home. I decided to do it after the game but ended up forgetting L Here’s a smart thing – the four sections of the stands were blocked off by locked gates to prevent people who paid less (like us) from sitting in good seats in the shade. Bummer. Anyway, there were some crazy fans in our section so we found a good spot and parked it. They brought flags, drums, signs, scarves, the works, and hardly let up throughout the whole game. Even though the stands were FAR from full, I was impressed by how much noise they were making. I should’ve forseen that when they came in chanting, “¡Setenta y cuatro, hijo de puta!” Needless to say, things got a little vulgar. The final score was Granada C.F. 3 – Granada 74 1. I’m so glad we went to a soccer game in Europe! And for only €10.
Slept in until 11:00ish which felt wonderful! We had breakfast and then I went down to the patio to do some homework. I put on a tanktop and shorts and wrote my Granada Seminar paper while the sun scorched my shoulders. Taylor came down and we bought Julia some flowers from the place around the corner since it was Mother’s Day. We took them up for her just before lunch and she was so happy J She had a special table set and a fancy meal prepared for the big day so I’m glad we didn’t show up empty-handed. We had some gross potato salad with mayonnaise again but each dish went up from there. Next was some sort of dark meat in a dark sauce that had a really good flavor. Then, our surprise – dessert! Not just any dessert, strawberries with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream cake with chocolate shavings. Heavenly. The best part is that there’s a whole cake so we get some every day this week until it’s gone!
After lunch Taylor and I went on a little paseo around Granada to check out the crosses for Día de la Cruz. There are huge altars around in plazas and streetcorners that have big crosses covered in carnations, the blue and white pottery, shawls, water, and an apple with scissors through it. An apple is also called a pero colloquially so it’s symbolic to remind people not to critique the cross. Aka, it’s to cut out the “yeah it’s pretty, but..” We saw quite a few and at the Ayuntamiento there was a stage with people dancing flamenco all around. Lots of people were wearing the fancy dresses, and the little girls were just adorable.
We came back with just a couple minutes to spare to change our clothes and grab our stuff before we met Mitch for the soccer game. We walked to the Palacio de Deportes, which isn’t too far from our house, to the big stadium. There weren’t many people there but we were early so we figured it was just a Spanish thing. We bought our tickets and killed some time before we found our seats. I asked a worker if I could buy one of the posters and she said I could just rip one off the wall and take it home. I decided to do it after the game but ended up forgetting L Here’s a smart thing – the four sections of the stands were blocked off by locked gates to prevent people who paid less (like us) from sitting in good seats in the shade. Bummer. Anyway, there were some crazy fans in our section so we found a good spot and parked it. They brought flags, drums, signs, scarves, the works, and hardly let up throughout the whole game. Even though the stands were FAR from full, I was impressed by how much noise they were making. I should’ve forseen that when they came in chanting, “¡Setenta y cuatro, hijo de puta!” Needless to say, things got a little vulgar. The final score was Granada C.F. 3 – Granada 74 1. I’m so glad we went to a soccer game in Europe! And for only €10.
5-2-09
Saturday, May 2, 2009
After a very long day and a tiny bit of sleep, I got on another 3½ hour bus right bright and shiny. Jeff and I headed off on what turned out to be a pretty expensive trip. We got off in Algeciras and barely caught the Junta de Andalucía bus to La Línea after buying our return tickets. When we got there we knew we wouldn’t have a ton of time so we snarfed down some McDonald’s before crossing through “customs”. It was so windy when we crossed the airstrip that I thought I was going to blow over! Yes, customs was a joke, almost nonexistent (USA? Muy bien) and to get to the actual rock you have to walk across a landing field. We debated about whether we should take a taxi tour to the top or jump on the bus and go to the top by cable car. We figured the cable cars probably wouldn’t be running because of the excessive wind so wandered through to the main plaza and coughed up way too much money for a taxi ride around the rock. Our driver was really nice and took us to all the best places.
Our first stop was the Pillars of Hercules where standing on British soil you can see the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the port of Tarifa and the whole city of Algeciras (Spain). It was so beautiful and symbolic and .. not windy at all. There was a monument saying something about the history of Gibraltar (Homer’s works, Greek mythology, conquerors, etc). I wanted a picture right where these people were standing and without thinking I said to Jeff, “Ugh, I wish that girl would just move” and he responded, “Yeah, I wish they would all just get out of the way.” The guy who was taking the picture of them turns to us and in plain English says, “Sorry, we’ll be done in a second.” Wow do I feel like a jerk! I had to keep reminding myself the whole day that people speak English and they can understand everything we were saying.. Man, that’s going to be tough to get used to when I’m back in the States!
Our next stop was St. Michael’s Cave where we saw tons of monkeys outside! More on that later.. In ancient literature, this was supposedly the path to Hades because it keeps going down and down and down and nobody saw the bottom of it until relatively recently. (There’s a lake down there) The whole place was lit up with cool lights and there was a Neanderthal skull on display. Gibraltar was actually the first place it was discovered, not in the Neanderthal valley of Germany so Jeff thinks they should be called “Gibraltarthals”. We kept walking through the caves and after stumbling upon this random stage we saw what we’re pretty sure was the devil. I have a picture to prove it.
After we were done we got back in the taxivan and went up to the monkey hangout. They were brought to Gib on boats coming from North Africa (not Morocco though, there weren’t any there!) hundreds of years ago as pets and have been living wild there ever since. When I asked our driver if they ever come down from the rock he told us that sometimes they go into town for the weekend but they never cross into Spain :) We spent quite a while up there just watching them, well, be monkeys. One guy had a package of crackers that he was going to feed them one at a time but as soon as he gave out one, the monkey scampered up his leg and snatched the whole thing out of his hands! Good thing the guy didn’t put up a fight because that thing looked intense. It was adorable how he just plopped down on the cliff and started digging them out one by one with his little fingers – he looked like a little old man! I really wanted to get a picture with one on my arm but the general rule of thumb is that they can touch you but you can’t touch them. Oh, well.
Next we had the option to go to the siege tunnels that date back to the war or to go to the castle. Since we could see the windows of the tunnel from the outside we opted for the castle. There were some more beautiful views and it was pretty cool inside. After our last stop our driver took us to an ATM so we could pay him (between us we only had a few Euros left after Sevilla and whatnot) and I got Pounds out! It’s so funny how the Queen is EVERYWHERE. The exchange rate is really pretty good (for the Euro) these days and I hope he didn’t screw us over.
Anyway, we were dropped off back in the little plaza and we wandered around laughing at all the fish and chips signs and “Keep Gibraltar British” stuff. We had a little bit more time so we walked down the main street and ended up in a cute little cathedral. After that we were on our way back and just as we were about to cross the airstrip, a guard came over and closed the gate right in front of us because a plane was landing! We were so close to it that I felt like it could definitely have been the scene of a movie – something like on Liar Liar where Jim Carrey is on the steps outside the plane, you know? So because of this little setback and not taking the most direct route to the bus station, we ended up missing the Junta de Andalucía bus from La Línea back to Algeciras. Great. So we grabbed a taxi and once we got in we realized that I only took out enough cash to pay the taxi driver (since it was Pounds) and we didn’t have enough to cover the ridiculous €28 charge. So he took us to an ATM, I got out MORE money, and we thankfully made it back in time to catch our bus to Granada.
While we had our 30 minute pausa in Málaga the bus driver let us jump on the bus next to us that was headed back right away so we wouldn’t have to wait. There were only two seats left at the very back but I was happy to get home a little earlier than expected. When I passed by the café on my way home from the 10 stop, I saw that Madrid and Barcelona were playing and I was sad that I couldn’t see the whole thing .. bummer. Luckily I had an email from Nicole waiting for me – yay! I really hope it works out and I get to go stay with her in Switzerland next weekend!!
After a very long day and a tiny bit of sleep, I got on another 3½ hour bus right bright and shiny. Jeff and I headed off on what turned out to be a pretty expensive trip. We got off in Algeciras and barely caught the Junta de Andalucía bus to La Línea after buying our return tickets. When we got there we knew we wouldn’t have a ton of time so we snarfed down some McDonald’s before crossing through “customs”. It was so windy when we crossed the airstrip that I thought I was going to blow over! Yes, customs was a joke, almost nonexistent (USA? Muy bien) and to get to the actual rock you have to walk across a landing field. We debated about whether we should take a taxi tour to the top or jump on the bus and go to the top by cable car. We figured the cable cars probably wouldn’t be running because of the excessive wind so wandered through to the main plaza and coughed up way too much money for a taxi ride around the rock. Our driver was really nice and took us to all the best places.
Our first stop was the Pillars of Hercules where standing on British soil you can see the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the port of Tarifa and the whole city of Algeciras (Spain). It was so beautiful and symbolic and .. not windy at all. There was a monument saying something about the history of Gibraltar (Homer’s works, Greek mythology, conquerors, etc). I wanted a picture right where these people were standing and without thinking I said to Jeff, “Ugh, I wish that girl would just move” and he responded, “Yeah, I wish they would all just get out of the way.” The guy who was taking the picture of them turns to us and in plain English says, “Sorry, we’ll be done in a second.” Wow do I feel like a jerk! I had to keep reminding myself the whole day that people speak English and they can understand everything we were saying.. Man, that’s going to be tough to get used to when I’m back in the States!
Our next stop was St. Michael’s Cave where we saw tons of monkeys outside! More on that later.. In ancient literature, this was supposedly the path to Hades because it keeps going down and down and down and nobody saw the bottom of it until relatively recently. (There’s a lake down there) The whole place was lit up with cool lights and there was a Neanderthal skull on display. Gibraltar was actually the first place it was discovered, not in the Neanderthal valley of Germany so Jeff thinks they should be called “Gibraltarthals”. We kept walking through the caves and after stumbling upon this random stage we saw what we’re pretty sure was the devil. I have a picture to prove it.
After we were done we got back in the taxivan and went up to the monkey hangout. They were brought to Gib on boats coming from North Africa (not Morocco though, there weren’t any there!) hundreds of years ago as pets and have been living wild there ever since. When I asked our driver if they ever come down from the rock he told us that sometimes they go into town for the weekend but they never cross into Spain :) We spent quite a while up there just watching them, well, be monkeys. One guy had a package of crackers that he was going to feed them one at a time but as soon as he gave out one, the monkey scampered up his leg and snatched the whole thing out of his hands! Good thing the guy didn’t put up a fight because that thing looked intense. It was adorable how he just plopped down on the cliff and started digging them out one by one with his little fingers – he looked like a little old man! I really wanted to get a picture with one on my arm but the general rule of thumb is that they can touch you but you can’t touch them. Oh, well.
Next we had the option to go to the siege tunnels that date back to the war or to go to the castle. Since we could see the windows of the tunnel from the outside we opted for the castle. There were some more beautiful views and it was pretty cool inside. After our last stop our driver took us to an ATM so we could pay him (between us we only had a few Euros left after Sevilla and whatnot) and I got Pounds out! It’s so funny how the Queen is EVERYWHERE. The exchange rate is really pretty good (for the Euro) these days and I hope he didn’t screw us over.
Anyway, we were dropped off back in the little plaza and we wandered around laughing at all the fish and chips signs and “Keep Gibraltar British” stuff. We had a little bit more time so we walked down the main street and ended up in a cute little cathedral. After that we were on our way back and just as we were about to cross the airstrip, a guard came over and closed the gate right in front of us because a plane was landing! We were so close to it that I felt like it could definitely have been the scene of a movie – something like on Liar Liar where Jim Carrey is on the steps outside the plane, you know? So because of this little setback and not taking the most direct route to the bus station, we ended up missing the Junta de Andalucía bus from La Línea back to Algeciras. Great. So we grabbed a taxi and once we got in we realized that I only took out enough cash to pay the taxi driver (since it was Pounds) and we didn’t have enough to cover the ridiculous €28 charge. So he took us to an ATM, I got out MORE money, and we thankfully made it back in time to catch our bus to Granada.
While we had our 30 minute pausa in Málaga the bus driver let us jump on the bus next to us that was headed back right away so we wouldn’t have to wait. There were only two seats left at the very back but I was happy to get home a little earlier than expected. When I passed by the café on my way home from the 10 stop, I saw that Madrid and Barcelona were playing and I was sad that I couldn’t see the whole thing .. bummer. Luckily I had an email from Nicole waiting for me – yay! I really hope it works out and I get to go stay with her in Switzerland next weekend!!
5-1-09
Friday, May 1, 2009
We woke up early, had breakfast, and then took the 10 to the bus station. We bought tickets for the Supra bus which was only a few Euros more and was totally VIP. We got little goodie bags with earphones, a bottle of water, nuts, and little packaged almond pastries. There was tons of room and the seats were pretty comfortable – the only disappointment for me was that there wasn’t WiFi as advertised. Tough luck for Jeff who didn’t print his return ticket and didn’t know his account number. Right away when we got there we had to stop at an internet café so he could get back to Granada! Then we went to the Cathedral (third biggest in the world, the biggest by cubic area). I was so happy to finally go inside since we didn’t have time on our first trip to Sevilla. We saw Isabel’s crown, Colombus’s tomb, the retablo mayor (GOLD), and then went up the huge bell tower. We waited around for them to ring and it was LOUD.
We grabbed some ice cream (obviously one of our first stops, c’mon) and I had some delicious cheesecake and chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. Mmm. We headed toward Plaza de España and tried to hide from Christine as we passed by.. I bought a flower clip and an abanico (fan) which were totally worth it. The man was so rude though and I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t be nice to paying customers, it just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, we walked around, took some pictures, watched the Gitanos freak out, then ate our bocadillos while we waited for Christine. We tried to get a carriage ride but they were twice the price of usual since it’s the feria – dumb. The horses were as decked out as the people were! We paid ,20€ to use the public bathroom but all of us girls ended up sneaking in so we didn’t have to pay five times. I hate paying to use the restroom.
After that we made our way down the Guadalquivir to the fairgrounds and the number of people dressed up in the traditional clothing skyrocketed the closer we got. There was a stand giving out free mini gazpachos and Cassandra accidently dropped hers which splattered all over Christine. You know how looks can kill? Well I was legitimately worried that she might be harmed in the process. It was hilarious.. Anyway, we finally got there and things were just out of control. Horses, carriages, flamenco (Sevillana), rebujito (7up and Manzanilla), music, casetas, and people everywhere. There was even an area with theme park rides. The casetas were all private – sort of like little wedding parties all lined up – but we eventually found a couple public ones where we could go in. We wandered around for a while and just took it all in until everyone was hot, grouchy, and sunburned so we peaced out and tried to find a bar or café where we could sit until the bullfight. Well, everything even outside was packed (sidenote – I saw the biggest paella EVER) so we parked it on a little bench and people-watched for a while. Eventually we got up and finished our paseo along the river past the Torre de Oro and to the bullring. Mandy, I thought of you here – I think it’s right by where you lived! Jeff and I got everyone’s tickets then we went to a little café nearby where we thankfully found some seats to relax in until it started.
We drew tickets anonymously for our seats but there was more drama with that (Christine). Mitch, Jeff, and Whitney were sitting together in a different section than Cassandra, Taylor, Christine, and I but we all ended up in the sol seats – luckily there was some natural sombra and it wasn’t too hot because I can definitely see how someone could melt at a bullfight. We sat behind this group of really nice guys who apparently have season tickets and it was so cute how they kept explaining things and answering our questions. Even though we had already learned about tauromaquía in Granada Seminar, it was really nice to have them there. They were so proud to share their knowledge and love of bullfighting and they kept asking us what we thought and if we liked it. To tell you the truth, before I went I thought I was going to hate it but once it started I really got into it and I was yelling OLÉ! with the rest of them.
Even before the first bull came out, I loved it right from the start. But first the parade entered with all of the horses, picadors, matadors, toreros, etc., we heard the band play, saw the president give the official ok, and spied some beautiful “women of the feria” in the VIP seats. So then the first bull came charging out and they played with it for a while tiring him out. The picador came out on that poor horse (I do feel bad for the horses..) and gave him a couple little jabs to get the blood flowing and weaken him before the banderillas came. Aka the best part, especially the first bull – it was awesome! The guy had no protection, not even a cape but he did a little dance move, the bull charged at him, then spin-moved around and jabbed the banderilla into his back. The bull was a little stunned but followed him all the way to the edge where the guy hopped over the fence and confused the bull even more. After 2 more they play with him for a little while until the president gives the ok, the matador puts down his hat, switches for the real sword, then stabs it through the back of his neck. He’s supposed to puncture the heart so the bull dies quickly but a couple of them took a while to croak. They sort of wave the capes around him to make him dizzy until he lays down, and sometimes they had remove the sword or jab the back of his head with a dagger until he’s really out. When they’re good and dead the horses come out, the horns are hooked up with a rope and chains and he’s dragged out of the arena leaving a nice trail of blood behind. One of the bulls had poco fuerza, was cojo, no quería pelear, and the whole crowd screamed “fuera!” and clapped three times until they brought out a heard of white and brown bulls to bring him back into the pen. The next one they brought out was WAY better.
The men in front of us said that each time it should be so beautiful that it gives you goosebumps and it was so true! It’s just a true fight between man and beast once everyone leaves the arena and he goes in for the kill. I’m so happy that we got to go to a bullfight, especially during the Feria en Sevilla!
I loved how traditional and stereotypical the whole thing was. It was just totally over exaggerated and wonderful :) The men were so cocky and arrogant, but I guess that’s part of the “arte” that is bullfighting. The traje de luz (sequin suit) with it’s ridiculous colors, fluorescent pink socks, and ballet flats was awesome, especially on the third matador – “guapo!” He was awarded an ear after the crowd waved their white pañuelos because of his valiant performance against the most bravo bull and we got to see him up close and personal on his way out of the arena! Wow.
After our special encounter we met up with the other three, grabbed some food, and waited at the bus station until it was time to go back on the midnight bus. It was a long ride but definitely worth it.
We woke up early, had breakfast, and then took the 10 to the bus station. We bought tickets for the Supra bus which was only a few Euros more and was totally VIP. We got little goodie bags with earphones, a bottle of water, nuts, and little packaged almond pastries. There was tons of room and the seats were pretty comfortable – the only disappointment for me was that there wasn’t WiFi as advertised. Tough luck for Jeff who didn’t print his return ticket and didn’t know his account number. Right away when we got there we had to stop at an internet café so he could get back to Granada! Then we went to the Cathedral (third biggest in the world, the biggest by cubic area). I was so happy to finally go inside since we didn’t have time on our first trip to Sevilla. We saw Isabel’s crown, Colombus’s tomb, the retablo mayor (GOLD), and then went up the huge bell tower. We waited around for them to ring and it was LOUD.
We grabbed some ice cream (obviously one of our first stops, c’mon) and I had some delicious cheesecake and chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. Mmm. We headed toward Plaza de España and tried to hide from Christine as we passed by.. I bought a flower clip and an abanico (fan) which were totally worth it. The man was so rude though and I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t be nice to paying customers, it just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, we walked around, took some pictures, watched the Gitanos freak out, then ate our bocadillos while we waited for Christine. We tried to get a carriage ride but they were twice the price of usual since it’s the feria – dumb. The horses were as decked out as the people were! We paid ,20€ to use the public bathroom but all of us girls ended up sneaking in so we didn’t have to pay five times. I hate paying to use the restroom.
After that we made our way down the Guadalquivir to the fairgrounds and the number of people dressed up in the traditional clothing skyrocketed the closer we got. There was a stand giving out free mini gazpachos and Cassandra accidently dropped hers which splattered all over Christine. You know how looks can kill? Well I was legitimately worried that she might be harmed in the process. It was hilarious.. Anyway, we finally got there and things were just out of control. Horses, carriages, flamenco (Sevillana), rebujito (7up and Manzanilla), music, casetas, and people everywhere. There was even an area with theme park rides. The casetas were all private – sort of like little wedding parties all lined up – but we eventually found a couple public ones where we could go in. We wandered around for a while and just took it all in until everyone was hot, grouchy, and sunburned so we peaced out and tried to find a bar or café where we could sit until the bullfight. Well, everything even outside was packed (sidenote – I saw the biggest paella EVER) so we parked it on a little bench and people-watched for a while. Eventually we got up and finished our paseo along the river past the Torre de Oro and to the bullring. Mandy, I thought of you here – I think it’s right by where you lived! Jeff and I got everyone’s tickets then we went to a little café nearby where we thankfully found some seats to relax in until it started.
We drew tickets anonymously for our seats but there was more drama with that (Christine). Mitch, Jeff, and Whitney were sitting together in a different section than Cassandra, Taylor, Christine, and I but we all ended up in the sol seats – luckily there was some natural sombra and it wasn’t too hot because I can definitely see how someone could melt at a bullfight. We sat behind this group of really nice guys who apparently have season tickets and it was so cute how they kept explaining things and answering our questions. Even though we had already learned about tauromaquía in Granada Seminar, it was really nice to have them there. They were so proud to share their knowledge and love of bullfighting and they kept asking us what we thought and if we liked it. To tell you the truth, before I went I thought I was going to hate it but once it started I really got into it and I was yelling OLÉ! with the rest of them.
Even before the first bull came out, I loved it right from the start. But first the parade entered with all of the horses, picadors, matadors, toreros, etc., we heard the band play, saw the president give the official ok, and spied some beautiful “women of the feria” in the VIP seats. So then the first bull came charging out and they played with it for a while tiring him out. The picador came out on that poor horse (I do feel bad for the horses..) and gave him a couple little jabs to get the blood flowing and weaken him before the banderillas came. Aka the best part, especially the first bull – it was awesome! The guy had no protection, not even a cape but he did a little dance move, the bull charged at him, then spin-moved around and jabbed the banderilla into his back. The bull was a little stunned but followed him all the way to the edge where the guy hopped over the fence and confused the bull even more. After 2 more they play with him for a little while until the president gives the ok, the matador puts down his hat, switches for the real sword, then stabs it through the back of his neck. He’s supposed to puncture the heart so the bull dies quickly but a couple of them took a while to croak. They sort of wave the capes around him to make him dizzy until he lays down, and sometimes they had remove the sword or jab the back of his head with a dagger until he’s really out. When they’re good and dead the horses come out, the horns are hooked up with a rope and chains and he’s dragged out of the arena leaving a nice trail of blood behind. One of the bulls had poco fuerza, was cojo, no quería pelear, and the whole crowd screamed “fuera!” and clapped three times until they brought out a heard of white and brown bulls to bring him back into the pen. The next one they brought out was WAY better.
The men in front of us said that each time it should be so beautiful that it gives you goosebumps and it was so true! It’s just a true fight between man and beast once everyone leaves the arena and he goes in for the kill. I’m so happy that we got to go to a bullfight, especially during the Feria en Sevilla!
I loved how traditional and stereotypical the whole thing was. It was just totally over exaggerated and wonderful :) The men were so cocky and arrogant, but I guess that’s part of the “arte” that is bullfighting. The traje de luz (sequin suit) with it’s ridiculous colors, fluorescent pink socks, and ballet flats was awesome, especially on the third matador – “guapo!” He was awarded an ear after the crowd waved their white pañuelos because of his valiant performance against the most bravo bull and we got to see him up close and personal on his way out of the arena! Wow.
After our special encounter we met up with the other three, grabbed some food, and waited at the bus station until it was time to go back on the midnight bus. It was a long ride but definitely worth it.
4-30-09
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Nothing too special happened during the day – just the usual. At night Mitch, Jeff, Taylor, and I went to the tetería and chilled. We came home at a decent time because we had to be up early the next day!
Nothing too special happened during the day – just the usual. At night Mitch, Jeff, Taylor, and I went to the tetería and chilled. We came home at a decent time because we had to be up early the next day!
4-29-09
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Had grammar nice and early but at least it was a half hour later than the last few times! After class Whitney and I did some hiking and exploring. From Plaza Nueva we went up through the Albaicín to the Mirador which just never gets old, by the way. It was such a sunny, clear day so you could see the Alhambra perfectly. We wandered through the main plaza and up through a neighborhood until we took a dirt path with tall grasses and flowers. We came really close to some Gitano caves which was awesome! At the first one a lady and her daughter were playing with their dogs and she offered us a puppy. It totally caught us off-guard but they were adorable. The caves are partially natural and partially dug into the side of the mountain. The gypsies have random furniture, gates, and junk all around their caves; some even had doors with locks, nice fences, and cars. There were some power lines running above so we’re not sure if some of them have electricity and running water. At the top we climbed around the ancient city walls and to this really old building that supposedly was once a convent and is now a juvenile detention center. Last time Whitney was up there she saw some of the guys so she said she thinks it’s true. Apparently it’s also a place where people go to smoke pot. We wandered around to the other side which had an awesome view of the mountains and nature. While we were standing there TWO guys ran by. Seriously, some people are so hardcore – I was definitely sweating just getting up there! There was some graffiti and one said in English, “Homage to Granada – city full of dogs and fountains, drunks, squats, and poetry.” Interesting. Not exactly how I would describe it but not wrong either! On our way back down we took this random set of really nice stairs through what seemed to be the “farm” of the caves. There were lots of animals – horses, dogs, cats, chickens, etc. – but not a lot of crops. We got some weird looks throughout this whole adventure, especially since I was wearing a skirt and flats. It was totally worth it though, I had really wanted to see the caves and the views were second to none. We got a bird’s eye view of the city and its pueblos, the Alhambra, and even the Albaicín. Needless to say, we were pretty high up! It was so weird to walk through three totally different neighborhoods and three totally different cultures in just a half hour: Plaza Nueva, the Albaicín/Mirador, and las cuevas.
Came back for lunch, did some writing, and headed back to the CLM for some Skyping. I tried to get some more emails sent and get stuff worked out but it’s just a slow process. I did find out my student teaching placement (finally!) so that was an accomplishment! I’ll be with a lady in Knoxville for the first quarter then with Paloma teaching levels II and III. I think it’ll be a good semester but I was mostly relieved to have it all figured out. I got to Skype with Mom for a little while which was wonderful as always. I had to cut our conversation short though because Mitch got out of class and we HAD to get our plans made for the weekend. Taylor bought the last return ticket from Sevilla (or so we thought) so we had very few options on what to do. Trains were booked, there was nowhere to stay in Sevilla besides the bus station, there were no busses to Algeciras/Gibraltar, etc. so we were pretty much screwed. One of our brilliant ideas was to rent a car since we’d heard they were cheap but the minor problem we had was that Mitch wasn’t 21 and I can’t drive a stick. Like I said, minor problem. We checked some websites and none of them had cars left for this weekend so our last resort was a car rental company located in the parking garage across from Palacio de Congresos. On our way out we recruited Jeff who is coincidentally stuck in Sevilla as of now, 21, and can drive a stick. Perfect! So we marched all the way to the place just to find out they had NOTHING to rent for the weekend; they gave us a number of another place (at the airport) and when we called it was the same situation. Mitch left his passport with us, went back home, and crossed his fingers that we figured something out. For some reason it seemed like it was a bazillion degrees and Jeff was wearing a dark grey t-shirt with his backpack so when we got back he was in a full sweat.
I had plans to Skype with Mandy, Laura, and maybe Mom or Dad so I wanted to get everything figured out right away. We looked at the ALSA website again and when I played around with the number of passengers, the number of available seats changed! Luckily, the site was just messed up so all three of us got ida y vuelta J YAY!! For a little while I thought I might not be able to go to the bullfight.. We had some trouble with credit cards and and booking but it all worked out in the end.
After that whole fiasco, I got to Skype with Mandy and Laura! It was so good to talk to them J I got to see Kael and Mom, too! Everyone sounded good, looked good, and it makes me even more excited to come home. I poured out my graduation situation and they both helped me out a lot. Yet again, I had to run and cut the conversation short because I had a concert to go to. Tough life, right?
So before the concert, I met up with Sara, Christine, Whitney, and Cassandra and Hannigan’s then walked to Teatro Isabel la Católica. I hadn’t been inside yet but it was gorgeous. The opener was some dude who didn’t impress me much, but Manuel Carrasco didn’t let me down. I THINK he was the Spanish guy on European Idol but I could be wrong. Either way, all of the Spanish women in the crowd knew every word and weren’t afraid to sing right along. Actually, they weren’t afraid to dance, clap, or shout “quiero tener tus hijos!” at inappropriate times. They were so obnoxious and I was getting really frustrated with the ones in front of us. Una fila complete de friquis…
Had grammar nice and early but at least it was a half hour later than the last few times! After class Whitney and I did some hiking and exploring. From Plaza Nueva we went up through the Albaicín to the Mirador which just never gets old, by the way. It was such a sunny, clear day so you could see the Alhambra perfectly. We wandered through the main plaza and up through a neighborhood until we took a dirt path with tall grasses and flowers. We came really close to some Gitano caves which was awesome! At the first one a lady and her daughter were playing with their dogs and she offered us a puppy. It totally caught us off-guard but they were adorable. The caves are partially natural and partially dug into the side of the mountain. The gypsies have random furniture, gates, and junk all around their caves; some even had doors with locks, nice fences, and cars. There were some power lines running above so we’re not sure if some of them have electricity and running water. At the top we climbed around the ancient city walls and to this really old building that supposedly was once a convent and is now a juvenile detention center. Last time Whitney was up there she saw some of the guys so she said she thinks it’s true. Apparently it’s also a place where people go to smoke pot. We wandered around to the other side which had an awesome view of the mountains and nature. While we were standing there TWO guys ran by. Seriously, some people are so hardcore – I was definitely sweating just getting up there! There was some graffiti and one said in English, “Homage to Granada – city full of dogs and fountains, drunks, squats, and poetry.” Interesting. Not exactly how I would describe it but not wrong either! On our way back down we took this random set of really nice stairs through what seemed to be the “farm” of the caves. There were lots of animals – horses, dogs, cats, chickens, etc. – but not a lot of crops. We got some weird looks throughout this whole adventure, especially since I was wearing a skirt and flats. It was totally worth it though, I had really wanted to see the caves and the views were second to none. We got a bird’s eye view of the city and its pueblos, the Alhambra, and even the Albaicín. Needless to say, we were pretty high up! It was so weird to walk through three totally different neighborhoods and three totally different cultures in just a half hour: Plaza Nueva, the Albaicín/Mirador, and las cuevas.
Came back for lunch, did some writing, and headed back to the CLM for some Skyping. I tried to get some more emails sent and get stuff worked out but it’s just a slow process. I did find out my student teaching placement (finally!) so that was an accomplishment! I’ll be with a lady in Knoxville for the first quarter then with Paloma teaching levels II and III. I think it’ll be a good semester but I was mostly relieved to have it all figured out. I got to Skype with Mom for a little while which was wonderful as always. I had to cut our conversation short though because Mitch got out of class and we HAD to get our plans made for the weekend. Taylor bought the last return ticket from Sevilla (or so we thought) so we had very few options on what to do. Trains were booked, there was nowhere to stay in Sevilla besides the bus station, there were no busses to Algeciras/Gibraltar, etc. so we were pretty much screwed. One of our brilliant ideas was to rent a car since we’d heard they were cheap but the minor problem we had was that Mitch wasn’t 21 and I can’t drive a stick. Like I said, minor problem. We checked some websites and none of them had cars left for this weekend so our last resort was a car rental company located in the parking garage across from Palacio de Congresos. On our way out we recruited Jeff who is coincidentally stuck in Sevilla as of now, 21, and can drive a stick. Perfect! So we marched all the way to the place just to find out they had NOTHING to rent for the weekend; they gave us a number of another place (at the airport) and when we called it was the same situation. Mitch left his passport with us, went back home, and crossed his fingers that we figured something out. For some reason it seemed like it was a bazillion degrees and Jeff was wearing a dark grey t-shirt with his backpack so when we got back he was in a full sweat.
I had plans to Skype with Mandy, Laura, and maybe Mom or Dad so I wanted to get everything figured out right away. We looked at the ALSA website again and when I played around with the number of passengers, the number of available seats changed! Luckily, the site was just messed up so all three of us got ida y vuelta J YAY!! For a little while I thought I might not be able to go to the bullfight.. We had some trouble with credit cards and and booking but it all worked out in the end.
After that whole fiasco, I got to Skype with Mandy and Laura! It was so good to talk to them J I got to see Kael and Mom, too! Everyone sounded good, looked good, and it makes me even more excited to come home. I poured out my graduation situation and they both helped me out a lot. Yet again, I had to run and cut the conversation short because I had a concert to go to. Tough life, right?
So before the concert, I met up with Sara, Christine, Whitney, and Cassandra and Hannigan’s then walked to Teatro Isabel la Católica. I hadn’t been inside yet but it was gorgeous. The opener was some dude who didn’t impress me much, but Manuel Carrasco didn’t let me down. I THINK he was the Spanish guy on European Idol but I could be wrong. Either way, all of the Spanish women in the crowd knew every word and weren’t afraid to sing right along. Actually, they weren’t afraid to dance, clap, or shout “quiero tener tus hijos!” at inappropriate times. They were so obnoxious and I was getting really frustrated with the ones in front of us. Una fila complete de friquis…
4-28-09
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Woke up and went the literature, had a break before art, then had my bocadillo.I got a letter from mom today – yay! After that we had our last intercultural meeting with Veronica. This time we talked about reverse culture shock and what to expect when we return. I can’t get over the mixed feelings I’m having about going home. I wish I would just stay for a month or so then bring all my loved ones with me to Granada. I think that would be the most optimal situation.. I had POE then a break then French. We came back and had a huge dinner – croquetas, soup/picatostes, a couple of buñuelos, and pan calentito. This weekend’s plans have been such an issue – we’re trying to decide what bus to take, where to go, etc. and nothing is lining up how it should. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get everything straightened out!
Woke up and went the literature, had a break before art, then had my bocadillo.I got a letter from mom today – yay! After that we had our last intercultural meeting with Veronica. This time we talked about reverse culture shock and what to expect when we return. I can’t get over the mixed feelings I’m having about going home. I wish I would just stay for a month or so then bring all my loved ones with me to Granada. I think that would be the most optimal situation.. I had POE then a break then French. We came back and had a huge dinner – croquetas, soup/picatostes, a couple of buñuelos, and pan calentito. This weekend’s plans have been such an issue – we’re trying to decide what bus to take, where to go, etc. and nothing is lining up how it should. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get everything straightened out!
4-27-09
Monday, April 27, 2009
Woke up early and had our last class at 8:00. Afterward I grabbed a palmera de chocolate from Pan y Chocolate then did a little shopping. Since my white tank top/cami is still MIA I had to search for a new one. Instead, I found the cutest most comfortable linen pants from Springfield and short-sleeved shirt from Pull and Bear. I really haven’t bought much spring stuff yet and they were pretty reasonable. I can’t wait to wear them!
I came back and did some blogging before lunch. We had lentil soup, cooked green peppers in olive oil, and strawberries with brown sugar. I did a little more writing, went to tutorías, then Skyped Rob! After that I had fonética and an hour break when I actually was pretty productive. It’s been such a mess trying to decide whether or not I want to graduate early and trying to set up internship stuff this summer. I sent some emails and hopefully am getting somewhere on the whole issue! After that we had a movie session with the program – Motorcycle Diaries. There was one part where he was saying goodbye to the village and for some reason I got a little teary-eyed L On the way home I wasn’t feeling well, my stomach was really upset so I just crashed when we got back.
Woke up early and had our last class at 8:00. Afterward I grabbed a palmera de chocolate from Pan y Chocolate then did a little shopping. Since my white tank top/cami is still MIA I had to search for a new one. Instead, I found the cutest most comfortable linen pants from Springfield and short-sleeved shirt from Pull and Bear. I really haven’t bought much spring stuff yet and they were pretty reasonable. I can’t wait to wear them!
I came back and did some blogging before lunch. We had lentil soup, cooked green peppers in olive oil, and strawberries with brown sugar. I did a little more writing, went to tutorías, then Skyped Rob! After that I had fonética and an hour break when I actually was pretty productive. It’s been such a mess trying to decide whether or not I want to graduate early and trying to set up internship stuff this summer. I sent some emails and hopefully am getting somewhere on the whole issue! After that we had a movie session with the program – Motorcycle Diaries. There was one part where he was saying goodbye to the village and for some reason I got a little teary-eyed L On the way home I wasn’t feeling well, my stomach was really upset so I just crashed when we got back.
4-26-09
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Woke up and left way too early to catch the 9:00 bus to Ronda. Sometimes the 10 takes up to an hour but since there was no traffic I got there in about 20 minutes. Ughh. Anyway, I met up with Jeff and we got the very front seats on the bus! We were pretty excited about getting a good view but then ended up reading and dozing off throughout the whole 3 hour trip. Unfortunately, as if the trip wasn’t long enough, we had to stop in Malaga for a half hour. As soon as we got near Ronda the temperature dropped and it started sprinkling. We tried to get our return tickets before we left the bus station (for some reason they wouldn’t let us get ida y vuelta in Granada) but the guy said the only bus was at 4:00. Since we weren’t sure if 3 ½ hours would be enough, we thought about just getting a ticket to Malaga then buying another ticket there for Granada. (That probably would’ve been cheaper, too – we spent almost €20 one way!) So Jeff ate part of his disgusting bocadillo and we headed out into the freezing cold only to find out it was now a downpour. Good thing he brought the largest umbrella known to man!
First, we walked through this cute little park that had some pretty good views of the countryside. (Background: Ronda is the biggest of all the pueblos blancos and it straddles a narrow, 20 story gorge. It’s also the birthplace of bullfighting and has the oldest bullring in Spain.) I quickly realized that my fear of heights might not be to my advantage in a town that’s entirely centered around a HUGE dropoff. Either way, we continued to the bullring and coughed up €6 to go in. We got to see where they train the horses, the stables, chapel, bullpens, practice rings, and then the arena! I wish it wouldn’t have been raining because we would’ve spent a lot more time there and gotten some better pictures. It was so well preserved but a little smaller than I expected. After that we went through the museum where they had displays of equipment and costumes from toreros since the beginning of bullfighting. They also had some big heads mounted on the wall and guns from as far back as 1590. I loved all the pictures and posters of the past ferias. One thing we did notice is how incredibly small the toreros outfits were – these dudes had to be tiny! I always picture a tall, strong man but these looked like they were for 10 year old boys.
Our next stop was the main plaza where I tried to get another free poster from the tourist information office. No such luck. By this time we were absolutely soaked and pretty grouchy. I thought maybe eating my bocadillo would help, but it was pretty tricky to do in the rain. I definitely ingested small amounts of tinfoil which I can’t imagine is good for a person. We walked across the Puente Nuevo which is the biggest, tallest bridge in Ronda and is shown on all the postcards. We went across from the new city to the ancient city and wound our way down to the second bridge, known as Puente Viejo. From there we saw a castle in the distance and the stables where they raise the horses which are used in bullfights. There’s so much history about this city that I can’t explain very well and I’d love to know more about.. Oh, and we also spotted a not so smart Smart car that was trying to cross the third bridge, Puente Arabe, even though the water was halfway up its door!
From the middle bridge we crossed back to the other side and climbed to a lookout that had an amazing view of the Puente Nuevo which was breathtaking not only for its beauty but also its sheer size. During the Reconquista and many other times in history, people were thrown off the bridge to their death. Yes, this is what I was thinking for the majority of the time I was looking down! After snapping a few pictures we decided to find a café and warm up a bit since we couldn’t feel out fingers. I was absolutely soaked and even Jeff’s old man umbrella didn’t keep him dry. Well, the best (and first) place we found was a McDonald’s in the main plaza so we sucked it up and went in. I thoroughly enjoyed my “Dollar menu” aka “Euro menu” fries – hot, salty, and just like they are in the US.
At this point we quickly and unanimously decided that catching the 4:00 bus wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, we would be glad to get back to a hot shower and dry feet as soon as possible. We found another overlook and were disappointed that we couldn’t climb down the steps etched into the side by the Moors or Romans a really really long time ago (ok, so history isn’t my forte – give me a break). On one side you had to pay and on the other that led down to some more lookouts, the gate was locked. We didn’t have much time left anyway, but it definitely would’ve been cool. Where we were standing this dumb guy climbed onto the stone wall stood up to videotape. What an idiot! I gave Jeff my camera to hold over the edge to capture the things I wasn’t daring enough to get. We saw the old city walls, the mountains, and of course, the bridge and gorge.
After that we headed back to the bus station where all of the ticket windows were closed. I gave in and walked up to an Alsa man who was having his coffee (obviously on break after a drive) and asked how I could get my ticket back to Granada. He pointed to a guy who was walking away from us and said, “Follow him”. The guy went straight into the booth, opened it up, and we got our tickets. When we stopped in Malaga, the bus driver pulled up and said it would be another half hour before we left again. Two minutes later he came back and asked us if we wanted to jump on the bus next to us which was headed to Granada right away and had a couple seats left. We took advantage of it and I was so thankful when I finally got a warm shower, hot meal, and dry feet!
I feel bad that this entry was so negative because it really was an amazing place and I’m so glad I went. It would have been a totally different experience if it would’ve been nicer weather.. a cheaper and faster bus wouldn’t have hurt, either. I guess I just regret that I didn’t go to the Netherlands this weekend with Whitney, Sara, and Christine. They had an awesome time and it’s somewhere I really wanted to see! It would’ve been a little expensive but probably worth it. Guess I can’t do anything about it now…
Woke up and left way too early to catch the 9:00 bus to Ronda. Sometimes the 10 takes up to an hour but since there was no traffic I got there in about 20 minutes. Ughh. Anyway, I met up with Jeff and we got the very front seats on the bus! We were pretty excited about getting a good view but then ended up reading and dozing off throughout the whole 3 hour trip. Unfortunately, as if the trip wasn’t long enough, we had to stop in Malaga for a half hour. As soon as we got near Ronda the temperature dropped and it started sprinkling. We tried to get our return tickets before we left the bus station (for some reason they wouldn’t let us get ida y vuelta in Granada) but the guy said the only bus was at 4:00. Since we weren’t sure if 3 ½ hours would be enough, we thought about just getting a ticket to Malaga then buying another ticket there for Granada. (That probably would’ve been cheaper, too – we spent almost €20 one way!) So Jeff ate part of his disgusting bocadillo and we headed out into the freezing cold only to find out it was now a downpour. Good thing he brought the largest umbrella known to man!
First, we walked through this cute little park that had some pretty good views of the countryside. (Background: Ronda is the biggest of all the pueblos blancos and it straddles a narrow, 20 story gorge. It’s also the birthplace of bullfighting and has the oldest bullring in Spain.) I quickly realized that my fear of heights might not be to my advantage in a town that’s entirely centered around a HUGE dropoff. Either way, we continued to the bullring and coughed up €6 to go in. We got to see where they train the horses, the stables, chapel, bullpens, practice rings, and then the arena! I wish it wouldn’t have been raining because we would’ve spent a lot more time there and gotten some better pictures. It was so well preserved but a little smaller than I expected. After that we went through the museum where they had displays of equipment and costumes from toreros since the beginning of bullfighting. They also had some big heads mounted on the wall and guns from as far back as 1590. I loved all the pictures and posters of the past ferias. One thing we did notice is how incredibly small the toreros outfits were – these dudes had to be tiny! I always picture a tall, strong man but these looked like they were for 10 year old boys.
Our next stop was the main plaza where I tried to get another free poster from the tourist information office. No such luck. By this time we were absolutely soaked and pretty grouchy. I thought maybe eating my bocadillo would help, but it was pretty tricky to do in the rain. I definitely ingested small amounts of tinfoil which I can’t imagine is good for a person. We walked across the Puente Nuevo which is the biggest, tallest bridge in Ronda and is shown on all the postcards. We went across from the new city to the ancient city and wound our way down to the second bridge, known as Puente Viejo. From there we saw a castle in the distance and the stables where they raise the horses which are used in bullfights. There’s so much history about this city that I can’t explain very well and I’d love to know more about.. Oh, and we also spotted a not so smart Smart car that was trying to cross the third bridge, Puente Arabe, even though the water was halfway up its door!
From the middle bridge we crossed back to the other side and climbed to a lookout that had an amazing view of the Puente Nuevo which was breathtaking not only for its beauty but also its sheer size. During the Reconquista and many other times in history, people were thrown off the bridge to their death. Yes, this is what I was thinking for the majority of the time I was looking down! After snapping a few pictures we decided to find a café and warm up a bit since we couldn’t feel out fingers. I was absolutely soaked and even Jeff’s old man umbrella didn’t keep him dry. Well, the best (and first) place we found was a McDonald’s in the main plaza so we sucked it up and went in. I thoroughly enjoyed my “Dollar menu” aka “Euro menu” fries – hot, salty, and just like they are in the US.
At this point we quickly and unanimously decided that catching the 4:00 bus wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, we would be glad to get back to a hot shower and dry feet as soon as possible. We found another overlook and were disappointed that we couldn’t climb down the steps etched into the side by the Moors or Romans a really really long time ago (ok, so history isn’t my forte – give me a break). On one side you had to pay and on the other that led down to some more lookouts, the gate was locked. We didn’t have much time left anyway, but it definitely would’ve been cool. Where we were standing this dumb guy climbed onto the stone wall stood up to videotape. What an idiot! I gave Jeff my camera to hold over the edge to capture the things I wasn’t daring enough to get. We saw the old city walls, the mountains, and of course, the bridge and gorge.
After that we headed back to the bus station where all of the ticket windows were closed. I gave in and walked up to an Alsa man who was having his coffee (obviously on break after a drive) and asked how I could get my ticket back to Granada. He pointed to a guy who was walking away from us and said, “Follow him”. The guy went straight into the booth, opened it up, and we got our tickets. When we stopped in Malaga, the bus driver pulled up and said it would be another half hour before we left again. Two minutes later he came back and asked us if we wanted to jump on the bus next to us which was headed to Granada right away and had a couple seats left. We took advantage of it and I was so thankful when I finally got a warm shower, hot meal, and dry feet!
I feel bad that this entry was so negative because it really was an amazing place and I’m so glad I went. It would have been a totally different experience if it would’ve been nicer weather.. a cheaper and faster bus wouldn’t have hurt, either. I guess I just regret that I didn’t go to the Netherlands this weekend with Whitney, Sara, and Christine. They had an awesome time and it’s somewhere I really wanted to see! It would’ve been a little expensive but probably worth it. Guess I can’t do anything about it now…
4-25-09
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Woke up after 11 wonderful hours of sleep and got ready for hiking. We met at Plaza Isabel la Católica where we found out Brittney forgot her passport and couldn’t go to Barcelona. Whoa.. She wasn’t even upset about it either! The group that went was Taylor, Jeff, Megan and Erin, Nick, Lisa, Audrey, Brittney, and me led by Verónica, Aida, and two guys. We went up past the Alhambra, through an olive grove, and to a recreation area with an awesome view. We could see the whole city and all of its pueblos, the snowy peaks, and Sacro-Monte. We wound down around the other side, through a neighborhood of Granada I’d never seen before, and then ended up around the park behind CCA 2. Afterwards Jeff, Nick, Taylor and I went for tapas with Verónica and the two guys and we met up with a couple and their daughter. It was a cute place with the best tapas I’ve had so far – vegetable curry with bread. She even paid! Taylor and I had our bocadillos and oranges outside of Chikito, a cute little café. It’s in between Plaza Mariana Pineda and Puerta Real and has lots of big trees and a fountain. It’s one of my favorite spots in Granada I think – I guess that doesn’t say much though, since I have a ton of those. We watched a little boy chasing pigeons and a lady painting on a canvas while trying to feed lunch to her two sons. So cute! After that we walked back and lounged around. Taylor napped and I read about half of a book that I keep meaning to start. At night Taylor, Mitch, and I went to the little pizza place by our house “Voy Volando”. We had two cheese pizzas and even thought it wasn’t the best, it was good enough! It definitely made me hungry for some Papa John’s! Actually, any American pizza will do. After that, we met up with Jeff and went back to the tapas place we went for lunch and had another good tapa – ribs in barbeque sauce with bread. Not as good as lunch, but it held its place as one of my favorite places. After that we headed to Hannigan’s to watch the Valencia vs. Barcelona game. Some American guys next to us had their laptop and were following the NFL draft. Man, I feel so far removed from American culture sometimes!
Woke up after 11 wonderful hours of sleep and got ready for hiking. We met at Plaza Isabel la Católica where we found out Brittney forgot her passport and couldn’t go to Barcelona. Whoa.. She wasn’t even upset about it either! The group that went was Taylor, Jeff, Megan and Erin, Nick, Lisa, Audrey, Brittney, and me led by Verónica, Aida, and two guys. We went up past the Alhambra, through an olive grove, and to a recreation area with an awesome view. We could see the whole city and all of its pueblos, the snowy peaks, and Sacro-Monte. We wound down around the other side, through a neighborhood of Granada I’d never seen before, and then ended up around the park behind CCA 2. Afterwards Jeff, Nick, Taylor and I went for tapas with Verónica and the two guys and we met up with a couple and their daughter. It was a cute place with the best tapas I’ve had so far – vegetable curry with bread. She even paid! Taylor and I had our bocadillos and oranges outside of Chikito, a cute little café. It’s in between Plaza Mariana Pineda and Puerta Real and has lots of big trees and a fountain. It’s one of my favorite spots in Granada I think – I guess that doesn’t say much though, since I have a ton of those. We watched a little boy chasing pigeons and a lady painting on a canvas while trying to feed lunch to her two sons. So cute! After that we walked back and lounged around. Taylor napped and I read about half of a book that I keep meaning to start. At night Taylor, Mitch, and I went to the little pizza place by our house “Voy Volando”. We had two cheese pizzas and even thought it wasn’t the best, it was good enough! It definitely made me hungry for some Papa John’s! Actually, any American pizza will do. After that, we met up with Jeff and went back to the tapas place we went for lunch and had another good tapa – ribs in barbeque sauce with bread. Not as good as lunch, but it held its place as one of my favorite places. After that we headed to Hannigan’s to watch the Valencia vs. Barcelona game. Some American guys next to us had their laptop and were following the NFL draft. Man, I feel so far removed from American culture sometimes!
4-24-09
Friday, April 24, 2009
Woke up early, secretly shaved in the shower really quick (to not get in trouble) and ended up with razor burn. Next time I’ll just deal with Julia freaking out about two showers a day. We met Jeff at the bus station and caught the 10:00 bus to Salobreña. It was such a great day – perfect temperature, no clouds, and the sparkling Mediterranean. I really couldn’t ask for much more! We got some snacks from the SuperSol and spent the whole time lounging in the sun. We climbed up this rocky point and got a great view of the water; Taylor and Jeff took some daredevil pictures (and even some Titanic shots..), but I quite obviously avoided the edge. One thing I don’t think I will ever get used to is the whole topless beach thing. No matter how many times we go to the beach or how much they show it on the news, it still catches me off-guard every time. We got back exhausted and a little pink around 8, then had dinner and a much needed shower. At the bus station Jeff and I got tickets for Ronda on Sunday – yay! Another busy but awesome weekend.
Woke up early, secretly shaved in the shower really quick (to not get in trouble) and ended up with razor burn. Next time I’ll just deal with Julia freaking out about two showers a day. We met Jeff at the bus station and caught the 10:00 bus to Salobreña. It was such a great day – perfect temperature, no clouds, and the sparkling Mediterranean. I really couldn’t ask for much more! We got some snacks from the SuperSol and spent the whole time lounging in the sun. We climbed up this rocky point and got a great view of the water; Taylor and Jeff took some daredevil pictures (and even some Titanic shots..), but I quite obviously avoided the edge. One thing I don’t think I will ever get used to is the whole topless beach thing. No matter how many times we go to the beach or how much they show it on the news, it still catches me off-guard every time. We got back exhausted and a little pink around 8, then had dinner and a much needed shower. At the bus station Jeff and I got tickets for Ronda on Sunday – yay! Another busy but awesome weekend.
4-23-09
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Had literature class, used the internet, and then finally went to the colorful cathedral near the CLM. I always walk by it and it was finally open when I went by. It was really nice on the inside, too. For Art History we went on a visit to the big cathedral which was also very cool. Today really made me realize how desensitized I am to cathedrals – how sad. After the visit, Taylor and I took our bocadillos to the park nearby and enjoyed them in the sunshine. It’s one of my favorite plazas: palm trees, cafés, flowers, and it’s pretty small. The only downside is there’s some construction but that’s everywhere, right? We wandered through Bib-Rambla with ice cream and checked out the books. It’s the Fiesta del Libro all throughout Spain so there’s been a bunch of sales and stands all over. We went back and waited for our meeting that never happened. The Italian lady in my French class invited everyone to be involved in an intercambio program she was helping out with. I was really excited for it since I regret never getting one but unfortunately, she didn’t show up. I sent some emails, had POE, break, French, then had dinner where we had a little treat before Julia went out with her friends. Aka she was spilling out of her shirt at 60+ and had no problem showing us and talking about it. Whoa. After dinner, we went for tapas with Jeff and Mitch – yes, I realize that’s not really the way it works but we like to do both dinner and tapas. I hadn’t been out in Granada for a looooong time so I’m glad we decided to spend the weekend here. There’s not much time left!
Had literature class, used the internet, and then finally went to the colorful cathedral near the CLM. I always walk by it and it was finally open when I went by. It was really nice on the inside, too. For Art History we went on a visit to the big cathedral which was also very cool. Today really made me realize how desensitized I am to cathedrals – how sad. After the visit, Taylor and I took our bocadillos to the park nearby and enjoyed them in the sunshine. It’s one of my favorite plazas: palm trees, cafés, flowers, and it’s pretty small. The only downside is there’s some construction but that’s everywhere, right? We wandered through Bib-Rambla with ice cream and checked out the books. It’s the Fiesta del Libro all throughout Spain so there’s been a bunch of sales and stands all over. We went back and waited for our meeting that never happened. The Italian lady in my French class invited everyone to be involved in an intercambio program she was helping out with. I was really excited for it since I regret never getting one but unfortunately, she didn’t show up. I sent some emails, had POE, break, French, then had dinner where we had a little treat before Julia went out with her friends. Aka she was spilling out of her shirt at 60+ and had no problem showing us and talking about it. Whoa. After dinner, we went for tapas with Jeff and Mitch – yes, I realize that’s not really the way it works but we like to do both dinner and tapas. I hadn’t been out in Granada for a looooong time so I’m glad we decided to spend the weekend here. There’s not much time left!
4-22-09
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Happy birthday Julia! Went to class at 8:00 – yuck. Our teacher missed one of our classes (April Fool’s day, actually) to take her mom to the hospital so we have to make up for it by coming a half hour early three times.. miserable. I wandered back home nice and slow since I was in a particularly bad mood for some reason. I guess I was just thinking too much about how I missed home and how little time remains. I have so much that I want to still see in Europe and I feel like I might never have a chance like this again L I miss the fam and Rob so much and one month seems like a long time! But, on the other hand I can’t imagine leaving Granada yet. It has really become my second home and I feel rushed to see everything one last time/squish in the things I still want to do.
On my way back I browsed through all the bookstands that line the Paseo de la Virgen from fountain to fountain. (plaza by the library to Puerta Real).They’re set up to celebrate the Fiesta del Libro. I bought the cutest little Spanish dictionary that is really good quality. It has lots and lots of words with a definition, picture, and sentence. I can’t wait to use it in my classroom! I also saw a set of fairy tales but they didn’t have all of them I wanted so I’ll have to go to that bookstore next week to see if they have more in.
I bummed around the piso putting things away and trying to catch up on my writing until lunch. Juli made a special meal that took her all morning to prepare but unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. She whipped out her fancy table setting with cloth napkins, a candle, and all! She also got all fixed up in a snazzy new shirt and loads of dark lipliner. The first course was the worst: potato salad with eggs and tuna. After the last tuna/mayonnaise/egg combo I just couldn’t do it. I picked at it and ate a few bites until she got the hint that we didn’t really like it. I felt really bad because besides it being her birthday, she takes so much pride in her cooking. I never got the black eye she promised she’d give me if I said I didn’t like it! The next dish was some kind of meat with apples on top. Definitely not my fave, but edible. The next dish was a wonderful surprise – strawberries!! She only buys fruit that’s “in season” so until now we’ve only had oranges and the occasional apple. She claims that the strawberries this year are really bitter/acidic so she had to put some brown sugar in with them. Fine by me! I’ll have to do that this summer for sure. I was also surprised when she brought out the next dish – more dessert. Francesca had bought her these pastries for her birthday when they were here visiting and Julia let us have some. The best way I can describe them is wet cake.
After the meal we gave her our presents. She loved the card that I whipped up for her; it really brought tears to her eyes. I didn’t think she would be that sad to see us go but I know now that she will definitely miss us! We gave her a tablecloth and dishtowel from Portugal, both with the signature rooster. She loved them and fortunately was familiar with the rooster and kept saying, “mira el pollito! Que monito”
For the rest of the night I tried to figure out some travel plans, had dinner, and then chatted with Taylor about her Musa/Marco drama. Ohh, boy.
Happy birthday Julia! Went to class at 8:00 – yuck. Our teacher missed one of our classes (April Fool’s day, actually) to take her mom to the hospital so we have to make up for it by coming a half hour early three times.. miserable. I wandered back home nice and slow since I was in a particularly bad mood for some reason. I guess I was just thinking too much about how I missed home and how little time remains. I have so much that I want to still see in Europe and I feel like I might never have a chance like this again L I miss the fam and Rob so much and one month seems like a long time! But, on the other hand I can’t imagine leaving Granada yet. It has really become my second home and I feel rushed to see everything one last time/squish in the things I still want to do.
On my way back I browsed through all the bookstands that line the Paseo de la Virgen from fountain to fountain. (plaza by the library to Puerta Real).They’re set up to celebrate the Fiesta del Libro. I bought the cutest little Spanish dictionary that is really good quality. It has lots and lots of words with a definition, picture, and sentence. I can’t wait to use it in my classroom! I also saw a set of fairy tales but they didn’t have all of them I wanted so I’ll have to go to that bookstore next week to see if they have more in.
I bummed around the piso putting things away and trying to catch up on my writing until lunch. Juli made a special meal that took her all morning to prepare but unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. She whipped out her fancy table setting with cloth napkins, a candle, and all! She also got all fixed up in a snazzy new shirt and loads of dark lipliner. The first course was the worst: potato salad with eggs and tuna. After the last tuna/mayonnaise/egg combo I just couldn’t do it. I picked at it and ate a few bites until she got the hint that we didn’t really like it. I felt really bad because besides it being her birthday, she takes so much pride in her cooking. I never got the black eye she promised she’d give me if I said I didn’t like it! The next dish was some kind of meat with apples on top. Definitely not my fave, but edible. The next dish was a wonderful surprise – strawberries!! She only buys fruit that’s “in season” so until now we’ve only had oranges and the occasional apple. She claims that the strawberries this year are really bitter/acidic so she had to put some brown sugar in with them. Fine by me! I’ll have to do that this summer for sure. I was also surprised when she brought out the next dish – more dessert. Francesca had bought her these pastries for her birthday when they were here visiting and Julia let us have some. The best way I can describe them is wet cake.
After the meal we gave her our presents. She loved the card that I whipped up for her; it really brought tears to her eyes. I didn’t think she would be that sad to see us go but I know now that she will definitely miss us! We gave her a tablecloth and dishtowel from Portugal, both with the signature rooster. She loved them and fortunately was familiar with the rooster and kept saying, “mira el pollito! Que monito”
For the rest of the night I tried to figure out some travel plans, had dinner, and then chatted with Taylor about her Musa/Marco drama. Ohh, boy.
4-21-09
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
This morning was my presentation for literature. Our group – Lizzy, Brittany, Kathleen, and I – researched Dámaso Alonso. Since I missed the meeting the night before I went in really early to finish up my part and hopefully talk to them a little bit before class. The whole presentation was supposed to be 20 minutes long and we were worried it would be short but with the videos I added in it was just right. It definitely wasn’t an interesting or inspiring presentation but it got the job done and I was glad to have it over with!
Not too much excitement the rest of the day – classes and breaks, lunch and dinner. During dinner we watched an episode of the Spanish version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition but the translation is My House is a Mess. It was about a family in Cataluña whose house was damaged by the hurricane/tornado/storm earlier this year. I just love that show!
This morning was my presentation for literature. Our group – Lizzy, Brittany, Kathleen, and I – researched Dámaso Alonso. Since I missed the meeting the night before I went in really early to finish up my part and hopefully talk to them a little bit before class. The whole presentation was supposed to be 20 minutes long and we were worried it would be short but with the videos I added in it was just right. It definitely wasn’t an interesting or inspiring presentation but it got the job done and I was glad to have it over with!
Not too much excitement the rest of the day – classes and breaks, lunch and dinner. During dinner we watched an episode of the Spanish version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition but the translation is My House is a Mess. It was about a family in Cataluña whose house was damaged by the hurricane/tornado/storm earlier this year. I just love that show!
4-20-09
Monday, April 20, 2009
We had breakfast super early and they weren’t making crepes or eggs yet so we just had cereal. We checked out and headed to the bus stop where a group of girls studying in Paris were having some troubles. Some of them thought they would have time for breakfast which they obviously would not since they still had to check out, pay individually, and catch a bus. When the airport bus pulled up one of the dummieheads pulls out her room key and with a look of sheer terror says, “Oh my god! Oh my god! What should I do?” Jajaja the other girls were furious but fortunately we saw them at the airport and it looked like they were going to check in on time. I’m so glad I’ve had good travel partners throughout the semester because that would be such a downer.
I suppose the flight was good because I feel asleep as soon as I sat down and barely woke up when it was time to go. At some point I opened my eyes and when I looked out the window I saw some gorgeous mountains and thought, “I didn’t even know we took off yet!” We rushed through the Metro to the bus station to catch the 2:00 one but when we got there at 1:40 it was already full. So we went to a grocery store to grab some lunch then waited until 3:30 for the next one.
We obviously got back later than expected so I missed my group meeting for our literature project. Whoops! There was not much I could do about it though.. Anyway, we came back in time for dinner then showered, did some homework, and hit the hay.
We had breakfast super early and they weren’t making crepes or eggs yet so we just had cereal. We checked out and headed to the bus stop where a group of girls studying in Paris were having some troubles. Some of them thought they would have time for breakfast which they obviously would not since they still had to check out, pay individually, and catch a bus. When the airport bus pulled up one of the dummieheads pulls out her room key and with a look of sheer terror says, “Oh my god! Oh my god! What should I do?” Jajaja the other girls were furious but fortunately we saw them at the airport and it looked like they were going to check in on time. I’m so glad I’ve had good travel partners throughout the semester because that would be such a downer.
I suppose the flight was good because I feel asleep as soon as I sat down and barely woke up when it was time to go. At some point I opened my eyes and when I looked out the window I saw some gorgeous mountains and thought, “I didn’t even know we took off yet!” We rushed through the Metro to the bus station to catch the 2:00 one but when we got there at 1:40 it was already full. So we went to a grocery store to grab some lunch then waited until 3:30 for the next one.
We obviously got back later than expected so I missed my group meeting for our literature project. Whoops! There was not much I could do about it though.. Anyway, we came back in time for dinner then showered, did some homework, and hit the hay.
4-19-09
Sunday, April 19. 2009
I don’t think any of us had trouble getting out of bed because we were all so excited about the delicious breakfast waiting for us downstairs. When we came back we had a new roomie – some guy from Brazil who was planning on visiting some of the same places we were for the day so he tagged along. We got on the tram to Belem, a barrio/pueblo near the edge of Lisboa and accidently didn’t pay. We really did try but it just didn’t work out. We asked some Portuguese lady about it and she said it was fine, but we’d just have to deal with the guilt that we were being dishonest. Thanks.
So our first stop was the Monasterio de Jeronimos or something like that. It was free since it was Sunday so that was nice! The inside was beautiful and on the way out we went in the cathedral that’s attached and saw Vasco de Gama’s tomb!
Our next stop was the Torre de Belem, a really pretty tower that overlooks the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.. ok, it just looks like it. It was also free – score! but going all the way to the top was pretty tricky in the tiny spiral staircase jam packed with people and no handrails. We noticed our new friend taking some creepy pictures of us so we started formulating a plan to ditch him..
Next stop: souvenir shopping. I grabbed a postcard (obviously) then Taylor and I got some birthday presents for Juli Juli. We made our way past the marina to the big Columbus tower/monument thing but decided not to go up since it was pretty much the same view as the Torre. We chilled on a little bench for a while and made plans to go to the flea market which is when our new friend decided to split. We found a map of the world painted on the ground so we had fun taking pictures and jumping around on that. (Yes, we took a TON of pictures on this trip) The flea market was awesome and I really wanted to buy some stuff but I was so proud of myself for resisting.
Our last stop in Belem was at this Pastelería (that’s definitely not what it’s called but it’s the best way I can describe it) that’s really famous. We each got the little mushy custard cinnamon powdered sugar tart and ate them in the little park that’s nearby. On the way back we took the free tram again then Taylor and Whitney had lunch before we went back to the hostel.
The plan after that was to go up to the castle but on our way up we ran into a little plaza overlooking the water where some guys were playing music who were surprisingly pretty good. There were tons of people around listening and even some dancing so we grabbed a spot and relaxed for a while. We eventually made it up there and explored the castle until sunset. It had a great view of Lisbon, the water, the bridge, everything! My favorite part is all the wild poppies (they’re in Spain too) because the red just “pops” if you will, against the brown of the buildings and the green of nature. Beautiful! We spent about a half hour running up and down this crooked tree taking funny pictures.. again, easily amused. On our way out we spotted some peacocks perched on the wall and we tried desperately forever to get them to spread their feathers. We did everything we could – made noises, danced around, threw rocks, etc. but they just wouldn’t do it. Whitney got an excellent video of Taylor and Steph making fools of themselves :) Oh, boy.
We came back to the hostel because Marco had promised to make us a delicious authentic Portuguese dinner. Apparently he used to do it for all the guests but it got too expensive and messy so he just does it on occasion. He had some friends in town and it was his goodbye dinner before he left for Brazil for two weeks. Anyway, we helped out preparing this amazing dinner for about 15 people then devoured it. None of us could finish our plates because of the appetizers (best cheese ever) and the heaviness of the pasta and we were glad he wasn’t offended like our señoras when we don’t clean our plates. I didn’t even stick around to hang out after I was done because I wasn’t feeling good at all – I just went straight up to bed. Steph and Taylor went out with a bunch of them to some Reggae bar but I definitely couldn’t go. They had a good time though!
I don’t think any of us had trouble getting out of bed because we were all so excited about the delicious breakfast waiting for us downstairs. When we came back we had a new roomie – some guy from Brazil who was planning on visiting some of the same places we were for the day so he tagged along. We got on the tram to Belem, a barrio/pueblo near the edge of Lisboa and accidently didn’t pay. We really did try but it just didn’t work out. We asked some Portuguese lady about it and she said it was fine, but we’d just have to deal with the guilt that we were being dishonest. Thanks.
So our first stop was the Monasterio de Jeronimos or something like that. It was free since it was Sunday so that was nice! The inside was beautiful and on the way out we went in the cathedral that’s attached and saw Vasco de Gama’s tomb!
Our next stop was the Torre de Belem, a really pretty tower that overlooks the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.. ok, it just looks like it. It was also free – score! but going all the way to the top was pretty tricky in the tiny spiral staircase jam packed with people and no handrails. We noticed our new friend taking some creepy pictures of us so we started formulating a plan to ditch him..
Next stop: souvenir shopping. I grabbed a postcard (obviously) then Taylor and I got some birthday presents for Juli Juli. We made our way past the marina to the big Columbus tower/monument thing but decided not to go up since it was pretty much the same view as the Torre. We chilled on a little bench for a while and made plans to go to the flea market which is when our new friend decided to split. We found a map of the world painted on the ground so we had fun taking pictures and jumping around on that. (Yes, we took a TON of pictures on this trip) The flea market was awesome and I really wanted to buy some stuff but I was so proud of myself for resisting.
Our last stop in Belem was at this Pastelería (that’s definitely not what it’s called but it’s the best way I can describe it) that’s really famous. We each got the little mushy custard cinnamon powdered sugar tart and ate them in the little park that’s nearby. On the way back we took the free tram again then Taylor and Whitney had lunch before we went back to the hostel.
The plan after that was to go up to the castle but on our way up we ran into a little plaza overlooking the water where some guys were playing music who were surprisingly pretty good. There were tons of people around listening and even some dancing so we grabbed a spot and relaxed for a while. We eventually made it up there and explored the castle until sunset. It had a great view of Lisbon, the water, the bridge, everything! My favorite part is all the wild poppies (they’re in Spain too) because the red just “pops” if you will, against the brown of the buildings and the green of nature. Beautiful! We spent about a half hour running up and down this crooked tree taking funny pictures.. again, easily amused. On our way out we spotted some peacocks perched on the wall and we tried desperately forever to get them to spread their feathers. We did everything we could – made noises, danced around, threw rocks, etc. but they just wouldn’t do it. Whitney got an excellent video of Taylor and Steph making fools of themselves :) Oh, boy.
We came back to the hostel because Marco had promised to make us a delicious authentic Portuguese dinner. Apparently he used to do it for all the guests but it got too expensive and messy so he just does it on occasion. He had some friends in town and it was his goodbye dinner before he left for Brazil for two weeks. Anyway, we helped out preparing this amazing dinner for about 15 people then devoured it. None of us could finish our plates because of the appetizers (best cheese ever) and the heaviness of the pasta and we were glad he wasn’t offended like our señoras when we don’t clean our plates. I didn’t even stick around to hang out after I was done because I wasn’t feeling good at all – I just went straight up to bed. Steph and Taylor went out with a bunch of them to some Reggae bar but I definitely couldn’t go. They had a good time though!
4-18-09
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Happy birthday Laura!!! Even though I couldn’t call her to talk on her actual birthday, at least I was in Portugal, one of her favorite places :) We woke up and there were two French people staying in our room but they were already down at breakfast. When we got there this sweet little lady asked, “pancakes or scrambled eggs with toast?” We also had cereal, orange juice, and ColaCao Turns out the pancakes were actually crepes served with nutella and everything was delicious! I think between the four of us we used a half bottle of honey.. whoops. Then we got ready and went to the train station that was gorgeous and right by our hostel. We hopped on the train/metro to Sintra which was super cheap, like €3.40 ida y vuelta for a 45 minute trip. When we got there we got on a touristy city bus that took us up to the castle first. I was sitting backwards which was absolutely sickening. Good thing the destination made it worth the trip! It was so lush and green with HUGE rocks. We hiked all around up and down the castle walls and took tons of pictures. Through the mist you could see the flags, the red tile roofs, and the other main sites of Sintra.
We were waiting for the bus and for one tiny second we heard nothing. It was my first encounter with silence since January and it was glorious! Then the birds started chirping, the wind rustled the leaves, and there was some water trickling down the mountain, but it was still wonderful. The bus zoomed up and this crazy man almost left without Taylor and Steph because they didn’t have their tickets out! We got off this ridiculous ride at the city center where we wandered around a little bit. I wanted some posters so we stopped in the tourism office and each of us got 5 awesome posters of Sintra! We went to a cute little restaurant so Taylor and Whitney could have some lunch and we watched guests arrive for what we assumed to be a wedding.
After that we walked to the Quinta de Regaleira aka the enchanted forest. Our first stop in this crazy place was the mansion, built around 1900. It was beautiful but the top floor was really scary! In the library room there was glass and a step down so I of course freaked out and thought I was going to fall. There was a creepy door, dark rooms, and all kinds of weird stuff so we got out of there and headed toward the chapel. It was tiny! Underneath there was a secret passageway that Stephanie and Taylor explored but didn’t make it all the way to the house (where we assume it eventually leads) because they heard some weird noises and zipped back up. The place was full of wells, fountains, tunnels, and all kinds of outrageous things. There was an alley of Roman Gods and even some broken glass cases that used to be fish tanks in some sort of zoo. We just wandered around exploring the place taking lots of pictures and being silly. There were huge green trees, castle lookouts, and the mist just added to the mysteriousness of the whole place. I really can’t explain it or give it justice with the pictures but this was one peculiar quinta!
On our way back to the train we ate at Pizza Hut and it was so worth it! I tried to take it easy with my stomach and all so I only had two pieces but I would’ve liked an entire pizza. We had a good time making fun of the group of Americans that were there in miniskirts and we even spotted a shiny J-Lo style jumpsuit.. out of control. They got some dessert that I also would’ve liked to indulge in, being as it was a fudge-filled chocolate cake topped with ice cream, but I resisted.
So we finally got back on the train after a long but awesome day in Sintra. I really think you could spend at least two whole days there. We took showers then hung out with Marco and Daniel, the two guys working at the hostel. They were really funny and interesting.. They set up the Wii on this huge projector screen and we played a few games before I called it a night.
Happy birthday Laura!!! Even though I couldn’t call her to talk on her actual birthday, at least I was in Portugal, one of her favorite places :) We woke up and there were two French people staying in our room but they were already down at breakfast. When we got there this sweet little lady asked, “pancakes or scrambled eggs with toast?” We also had cereal, orange juice, and ColaCao Turns out the pancakes were actually crepes served with nutella and everything was delicious! I think between the four of us we used a half bottle of honey.. whoops. Then we got ready and went to the train station that was gorgeous and right by our hostel. We hopped on the train/metro to Sintra which was super cheap, like €3.40 ida y vuelta for a 45 minute trip. When we got there we got on a touristy city bus that took us up to the castle first. I was sitting backwards which was absolutely sickening. Good thing the destination made it worth the trip! It was so lush and green with HUGE rocks. We hiked all around up and down the castle walls and took tons of pictures. Through the mist you could see the flags, the red tile roofs, and the other main sites of Sintra.
We were waiting for the bus and for one tiny second we heard nothing. It was my first encounter with silence since January and it was glorious! Then the birds started chirping, the wind rustled the leaves, and there was some water trickling down the mountain, but it was still wonderful. The bus zoomed up and this crazy man almost left without Taylor and Steph because they didn’t have their tickets out! We got off this ridiculous ride at the city center where we wandered around a little bit. I wanted some posters so we stopped in the tourism office and each of us got 5 awesome posters of Sintra! We went to a cute little restaurant so Taylor and Whitney could have some lunch and we watched guests arrive for what we assumed to be a wedding.
After that we walked to the Quinta de Regaleira aka the enchanted forest. Our first stop in this crazy place was the mansion, built around 1900. It was beautiful but the top floor was really scary! In the library room there was glass and a step down so I of course freaked out and thought I was going to fall. There was a creepy door, dark rooms, and all kinds of weird stuff so we got out of there and headed toward the chapel. It was tiny! Underneath there was a secret passageway that Stephanie and Taylor explored but didn’t make it all the way to the house (where we assume it eventually leads) because they heard some weird noises and zipped back up. The place was full of wells, fountains, tunnels, and all kinds of outrageous things. There was an alley of Roman Gods and even some broken glass cases that used to be fish tanks in some sort of zoo. We just wandered around exploring the place taking lots of pictures and being silly. There were huge green trees, castle lookouts, and the mist just added to the mysteriousness of the whole place. I really can’t explain it or give it justice with the pictures but this was one peculiar quinta!
On our way back to the train we ate at Pizza Hut and it was so worth it! I tried to take it easy with my stomach and all so I only had two pieces but I would’ve liked an entire pizza. We had a good time making fun of the group of Americans that were there in miniskirts and we even spotted a shiny J-Lo style jumpsuit.. out of control. They got some dessert that I also would’ve liked to indulge in, being as it was a fudge-filled chocolate cake topped with ice cream, but I resisted.
So we finally got back on the train after a long but awesome day in Sintra. I really think you could spend at least two whole days there. We took showers then hung out with Marco and Daniel, the two guys working at the hostel. They were really funny and interesting.. They set up the Wii on this huge projector screen and we played a few games before I called it a night.
4-17-09
Friday, April 17, 2009
It was a pretty good ride even though it was freezing cold and I was happy I slept quite a bit because otherwise I’d just sit there worrying about my … problems. I woke up about a half hour before we got there to the sound of Stephanie puking and quickly realized that my issues weren’t really that bad. The worst part is that her vomiting didn’t let up for the better part of the trip. Pretty much every time we were on any form of transportation or every time she ate or drank anything.
So after the bus station, Metro, then airport, we were finally on a plane to Lisboa. There were some super annoying people on our flight and Steph was collecting barf bags from everyone but other than that it was good, especially since I slept. The flight was technically only 10 minutes long since we flew back in time so that was nice! We took the airport bus to the Plaça de Rossio then walked ALL around the area trying to find our hostel which ended up being exactly where we got off the bus. Great. It was an awesome hostel though, definitely the best one we’ve ever stayed in. It had beautiful woodwork in the middle (to help support in case of an earthquake?), a movie room, free cubbies under the bed, and it was colorful and cheery.
We couldn’t check in yet so we dropped off our bags and walked around the city for a little while. We went through the Arc de Triomphe to the shore which we thought was the ocean but turned out to be a bay. Either way, I was excited because I thought it was the first time I had been to the Atlantic. (Wrong. Bahamas, Bermuda, Morocco, and maybe Florida? Duh Tammy.) There was a super creepy dude who kept looking at us, making inappropriate gestures, and even licked the salty ground – sick. We got offered marijuana from some shady dude in a suit that just flashed it to us from his hand… no thanks! This happened several times throughout the trip and Marco later told us that these guys basically crush up some herbs and try to sell it to tourists. So after that we went up to the cathedral which was beautiful. Sometimes I start to think they all look the same and I get sick of them but this helped me snap out of that jaded phase. On our way back we scouted a place for dinner that was having a Fado performance (their famous traditional music, singing love songs about distant love – dates back to explorers) then Whitney and Taylor got kebabs. Steph went straight back to rest and I wasn’t hungry at all.
We came back and Steph was asleep in the movie room so we woke her up and went to our room. We took naps, showers, and had some time to just chat and use the internet. Steph brought lots of food so we each had a little bit of bread and a couple strawberries that I saw about an hour later on the Metro. We went down to the lobby and Marco, the hostel worker gave us some advice on where to go and what to see for the night. We went to the Oceanarium (but not inside, too expensive and we were too late) and the area where the Expo ‘__? was. It was so much fun to just wander around, take some pictures and explore the area. There were lots of cool fountains, photo ops and some fun stuff to play on. I guess we were just easily amused!
When we came back the pills were wearing off (or they just never really kicked in) so I took some more medicine but I was so cautious not to overdo it. I learned that lesson in Mexico! We went to dinner and the performance was awesome. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t quite so hot – the cheapest thing on the menu was scrambled eggs so I just got the plain eggs and white rice. I figured that was the blandest, most filling thing. Came back and went to bed in our cute little room with the view overlooking the square and the castle in the distance.
It was a pretty good ride even though it was freezing cold and I was happy I slept quite a bit because otherwise I’d just sit there worrying about my … problems. I woke up about a half hour before we got there to the sound of Stephanie puking and quickly realized that my issues weren’t really that bad. The worst part is that her vomiting didn’t let up for the better part of the trip. Pretty much every time we were on any form of transportation or every time she ate or drank anything.
So after the bus station, Metro, then airport, we were finally on a plane to Lisboa. There were some super annoying people on our flight and Steph was collecting barf bags from everyone but other than that it was good, especially since I slept. The flight was technically only 10 minutes long since we flew back in time so that was nice! We took the airport bus to the Plaça de Rossio then walked ALL around the area trying to find our hostel which ended up being exactly where we got off the bus. Great. It was an awesome hostel though, definitely the best one we’ve ever stayed in. It had beautiful woodwork in the middle (to help support in case of an earthquake?), a movie room, free cubbies under the bed, and it was colorful and cheery.
We couldn’t check in yet so we dropped off our bags and walked around the city for a little while. We went through the Arc de Triomphe to the shore which we thought was the ocean but turned out to be a bay. Either way, I was excited because I thought it was the first time I had been to the Atlantic. (Wrong. Bahamas, Bermuda, Morocco, and maybe Florida? Duh Tammy.) There was a super creepy dude who kept looking at us, making inappropriate gestures, and even licked the salty ground – sick. We got offered marijuana from some shady dude in a suit that just flashed it to us from his hand… no thanks! This happened several times throughout the trip and Marco later told us that these guys basically crush up some herbs and try to sell it to tourists. So after that we went up to the cathedral which was beautiful. Sometimes I start to think they all look the same and I get sick of them but this helped me snap out of that jaded phase. On our way back we scouted a place for dinner that was having a Fado performance (their famous traditional music, singing love songs about distant love – dates back to explorers) then Whitney and Taylor got kebabs. Steph went straight back to rest and I wasn’t hungry at all.
We came back and Steph was asleep in the movie room so we woke her up and went to our room. We took naps, showers, and had some time to just chat and use the internet. Steph brought lots of food so we each had a little bit of bread and a couple strawberries that I saw about an hour later on the Metro. We went down to the lobby and Marco, the hostel worker gave us some advice on where to go and what to see for the night. We went to the Oceanarium (but not inside, too expensive and we were too late) and the area where the Expo ‘__? was. It was so much fun to just wander around, take some pictures and explore the area. There were lots of cool fountains, photo ops and some fun stuff to play on. I guess we were just easily amused!
When we came back the pills were wearing off (or they just never really kicked in) so I took some more medicine but I was so cautious not to overdo it. I learned that lesson in Mexico! We went to dinner and the performance was awesome. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t quite so hot – the cheapest thing on the menu was scrambled eggs so I just got the plain eggs and white rice. I figured that was the blandest, most filling thing. Came back and went to bed in our cute little room with the view overlooking the square and the castle in the distance.
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